VOL. 5 ISSUE 16
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ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR — FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, APRIL 20-26, 2007
BUSINESS 13
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WWW.THEINDEPENDENT.CA —
$1.50 HOME DELIVERY (HST included); $2.00 RETAIL (HST included)
CBC Radio’s Anne Budgell prepares to call it quits
Celtic Tiger slows down; remains good model for NL
‘Is there a better way?’
LIFE 17
WINGS AND A PRAYER
Memorial professor says province should initiate ‘serious discussion’ about separation from Canada; investigate joining European Union
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By Katie Hyslop The Independent
emorial University political science professor Michael Temelini says Newfoundland and Labrador has little strength in Canada with seven federal seats, and that the best bargaining chip with the federal government is one the province is afraid to use — secession. “You got to look in the tool box and see what kind of tools you have, and we don’t have many,” Temelini tells The Independent. “Newfoundlanders are convinced that there’s really nothing we can do to get a better arrangement out of Canada, and the fact is, that’s not true.” The province’s abundant natural resources are being shipped to mainland Canada to be refined and processed, and according to the recent census results, Newfoundland and Labrador’s population is rapidly declining, particularly in rural areas. Temelini says that’s not something Newfoundlanders and Labradorians should accept as set in stone. “You’ve got to start asking, ‘Is there a better way?’ Yeah, there is, you can say to Canada, ‘Look, either we start negotiating better terms, or we’ll be our own country,’” he says. “The problem with that option is that people are afraid of that — people think it’s crazy, people think it’s not realistic, people think it’s unattainable.”
See “We don’t understand,” page 2
With the Deer Lake Red Wings down three games to two to the Conception Bay North CeeBee Stars, the Herder senior hockey championship moves to the west coast this weekend with a game Saturday, April 21, at the Pepsi Centre. Wings’ star players Darren Langdon (left) and Ray Dalton prepare for Game 4 at Mile One Centre in St. John’s. See photo essay, pages 8-9. Paul Daly/The Independent
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “That’s my motto (to outlive the assholes). I’ve got it on a T-shirt … they’re like dust mites, there’s millions of them.”
— Retiring CBC personality Anne Budgell on the Crown corporation’s executive management.
GALLERY 18 Joel Thomas Hynes.
Paul Daly/The Independent
No delusions
A new book, movie, and one-man show. What does Joel Thomas Hynes have left to worry about? CLARE-MARIE GOSSE
S
omething that’s been troubling Joel Thomas Hynes for a while is the thought of complacency. Of getting to a point where everything seems to be ticking along so well, no worries, that he doesn’t really feel the need to try hard anymore. After all, Hynes is a successful, award-winning writer with a brand new novel, Right Away Monday, set to hit stores May 5th; his first book, Down to the Dirt, which met with international acclaim, is about to be made into a movie (shooting with Newfound Films
begins in June); and as an acclaimed actor, he’s currently preparing for the opening of his own one-man show, Say Nothing Saw Wood, at the LSPU Hall, May 7th. It would be easy to understand how he might feel like settling back and relaxing over life’s general concerns — comfortable the work will just roll in, that he’ll always be a great parent, that he no longer needs to work on sobriety. “I really think that f—king everything passes you by as soon as you get that attitude into your head,” Hynes remarks. Or worse, instead of passing you by, life smacks you a curve ball while you’re looking the other way.
Gordon Laurin’s first solo show at LSPU Hall STYLE 21
Stylish hiking gear for rain, drizzle, and fog SPORTS 29
Memorial runner Kate Vaughan off to Africa Paper Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Noreen Golfman . . . . . . . . . . 19 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Don Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
See “Straight-up,” page 5
‘Shock value’
Police called in light of concern for student safety at St. John’s school
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By Clare-Marie Gosse The Independent
olice were called in response to a complaint about a Grade 12 student issuing threats to exact bodily harm on fellow students at Prince of Wales Collegiate in St. John’s on March 12, The Independent has learned. A 19-year-old man was taken away for questioning by Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers, who later released him without charge. He was also assessed by two psychologists at the Janeway Hospital, who concluded the threats had been made for “shock value,” without any real intent to follow through. When contacted, Brian Vardy, principal of PWC, confirmed the incident, saying the student in question, who has been under the care of psychologists in the past, was given a five-day suspension. “Every time there’s a threat we take it seriously because if it’s said for shock value it’s still a threat,” he says, adding the school has strict protocol for dealing with potentially dangerous situations involving students and staff. In this instance, students were individually questioned, a guidance counselor was called in, and consequently, so were the police. Vardy couldn’t be specific about
the nature of the young man’s violent threats, but he said they were aimed at three girls in particular. Following the police incident, the young man was also later forbidden from attending the upcoming high school graduation ceremony after several concerned students complained he had threatened to cause trouble at the event. When asked if the student had threatened to bomb the grad, Vardy replies, “That’s possible hearsay; it may or may not have happened, but it was serious enough for me to ask him in the presence of the guidance counsellor. “He denied it, but … we agreed that he wasn’t going to the grad and he will not be sold a ticket.” The young man was then sent for another psychological assessment. “(The report) said this student has no signs of having the ability to follow through on any threats,” says Vardy. When asked to clarify whether that meant the young man didn’t have the will or the way to follow through, Vardy replies: “probably both … he has no violence (in his history).” Vardy says there will be strict security — as always — at this year’s grad ceremony, along with 30 teachers and numerous parents in attendance. In light of the shootings earlier this See “Teachers have,” page 2
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2 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
APRIL 20, 2007
The enemy of my Conservative enemy is my friend
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olitics has always made for strange bedfellows. This week gave us another example when federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion announced he had reached a deal with Green Party leader Elizabeth May not to run a candidate against her when she takes on Tory cabinet minister Peter MacKay in the next federal election. There isn’t much chance that MacKay will find himself defeated by May. One never knows, but the smart money is not betting on a May victory. During the last election May ran in London North Centre in Ontario and came in second. For a fledgling political party with no prior representation in the Commons, the results were exceptional. Surprise, surprise, May is not going to try it again in London North Centre. Instead, she’s headed east and will run in Nova Scotia in the riding of Central Nova, home of the MacKay political dynasty. Her decision to desert the riding where she did so well is a mystery to political watchers across the country, but the Liberal decision to not run against her in Central Nova is even more bizarre. Last year we saw something similar happen in Newfoundland and Labrador. When Lorraine Michael of the NDP ran to replace Jack Harris in the provincial district of Signal HillQuidi Vidi the local Liberals did not run a candidate. According to Liberal party strategists, the move was made deliberately to avoid any kind of vote splitting. Their hope was to defeat the Conservative candidate, Jerome Kennedy, and allow the more leftleaning New Democrats to keep their
RANDY SIMMS
Page 2 talk
two seats in the house. The thinking was straightforward: a Liberal in the race would simply divide opposition to the governing Tories and allow Kennedy an easy ride to the legislature. That was something the Liberals wanted to avoid and so a lot of young Liberals and NDP supporters came together and produced a winning campaign for Michael. A number of pundits gave this political strategy short shrift. Most believed the Liberals did not run a candidate because they couldn’t find one. A couple of fairly prominent liberals said as much and there was even talk that the Liberal association in Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi was upset when told of the party decision not to name a candidate. In the end, it all became moot when Michael won the seat, though voter turnout was considered quite low for such a high-profile race. A majority stayed home, not bothering to vote. Some speculate that was a way of showing their disapproval of the political arrangement between the Liberals and the New Democrats. Others say it had more to do with trimming the ambitions of Premier Danny Williams than anything else. We can speculate forever on that one. Now we see it happening again — this time at the national level. Dion is alleged to have made the first move here and called on May to make her an
offer. He was prepared not to run a candidate in Central Nova next time around so long as she agreed not to run a Green Party candidate against him. May took the deal and this strange example of political bedfellows working together to defeat a common enemy raises its head once more. It is a disturbing trend in modern day politics. It shows us clearly how little political ideology is left at the heart of politics in Canada today. After all, what does it mean to declare yourself a Liberal, a New Democrat or a Green? The answer is not much. Political parties seem to be more and more enamored with winning rather than promoting a political philosophy. The political party elite is so caught up in wanting to beat the other guy they are willing to lie down with their opposition to do so. I guess the old adage must be true, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” A lot of Liberals are speaking out against the non-compete agreement Dion made with the Greens and so they should. Such side deals undermine the political process, eliminate true choice and look like shallow schemes to hurt the other guy at the expense of supporting a real political cause. It’s crass and adds to the apathy of Canadians when the time comes to go to the polls. While I think this move will damage Dion’s chances, it will also hurt May. Like it or not, her party now becomes “liberal lite” not speaking for itself any longer but for the positions espoused by Dion. Randy Simms is host of VOCM’s Open Line radio program. rsimms@nf.sympatico.ca
Memorial professor Michael Temelini.
Paul Daly/The Independent
‘We don’t understand nationalism in Newfoundland’ From page 1
Yet the federal government hasn’t ruled out the possibility of provinces seceding. In fact, they established a set of rules and guidelines for the process in the 2000 Clarity Act. Temelini, who grew up in Windsor, Ont., and moved to the province three years ago, supports the multi-national federalism of Canada. He does not want Newfoundland and Labrador to separate, if it doesn’t have to, but says the province should consider all its options. “I really think Newfoundlanders need to have a serious discussion … we need intellectuals, economists, philosophers, poets, writers, business people, to sit down and have a really serious discussion about this,” he says. “We don’t understand nationalism in Newfoundland, we see it as negative and reactionary. Yet it’s not. We need to take it seriously. We need to understand that it’s not
threatening, it’s the response of a mature, organized people.” Newfoundland and Labrador should take its cue from Quebec on the issue, Temelini says, because the two provinces have a lot in common. For starters, they’re both nations. “We’re no different than the Scottish, the Welsh, the Corsicans, and Quebecers. We were a complete and functioning society prior to joining Canada. You can’t say the same thing about British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario.” Despite the negative reactions to previous mentions of secession by what Temelini refers to as “an ignorant, vocal minority of old curmudgeons in this province,” he points out that the secession debate has had positive results for Quebec since its inception during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. He cites as an example the Churchill Falls negotiations of 1969. He believes it’s no coincidence that the federal government pushed Joey Smallwood to agree to a deal favourable to Quebec. Quebec has been debating secession for over 30 years, so Temelini says the time for this province to act is now. In addition to a debate, involving both sides of the argument, he believes that Newfoundland and Labrador should look into the possibility of joining the European Union, and what that would entail. “People are going to laugh at that, but why? Greenland, Iceland, and Ireland are part of the European Union, and they’re not that far away from us … Iceland has a margin of the resources we do. So why would it be any more or less ridiculous for Newfoundland to be part of the union than Iceland or Greenland?” Temelini calls on the youth of the province to initiate this debate, and says it’s best to start small, with meetings and discussions involving like-minded people. He also believes Memorial University should weigh in on the issue with more courses and more academic research into the idea — after all, it was the professors, sociologists, activists, and youth of Quebec who argued for secession in the 1960s. “I’m not saying this is a great thing we should do, I’m saying we need to do the homework: what are the costs and what are the benefits. Can it be done, how can it be done?” he asks. “Have fun, innovate, figure out alternatives, do it with a smile, do it with optimism about the future — that’s what politics should be about.”
‘Teachers have been alerted’ From page 1
week at Virginia Polytechnic, resulting in 33 fatalities, Vardy agrees violent threats are a particular concern — as is the thought of strangers getting inside school property, or drunk driving after grads. “Every day that I wake up after a grad I turn on the radio and I wait for the phone calls and I’m very relieved,” he says. Vardy concludes he is comfortable the school has handled the young man’s behaviour properly and he says the student is undergoing regular counselling. Should another incident occur, the police will be called again.
POLICE UNCONCERNED “The plan, of course, is if he has a slide, or becomes in any way mentally unstable, or confused, or anxious in any way, then we’ll take the appropriate intervention. And teachers have been alerted to the fact.” Contacted by The Independent, Constabulary Const. Shawn O’Reilly says the officer in charge of questioning the young man on March 12 indicated in his report he has no reason to believe any threats would be carried out.
APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 3
SCRUNCHINS
YOURTOWN
Nor West River at night.
Sealing vessels were caught this week in slob ice off Newfoundland’s northeast coast.
A weekly collection of Newfoundlandia
Extra! Extra! Read all about the NDP, “a party on the move.” Or so read the headline of the March issue of the party’s St. John’s East Federal Riding Association Newsletter. The upcoming federal election campaign offers “tremendous” opportunities for the NDP in St. John’s East, the newsletter reads, partly because the Conservative MP who currently holds the job, Norm Doyle, is associated with Newfoundland and Labrador’s public enemy No. 1, Stephen Harper. The prime minister, in turn, has become unpopular here for the war in Afghanistan and cuts to women’s programs, the newsletter reads. (Harper’s “broken promise” regarding the Atlantic Accord doesn’t make it to the top of the charts, but then the NDP doesn’t either.) “In these current circumstances, the NDP can realistically expect to win St. John’s East.” That must be a mistake, the sentence should read, “In these current circumstances, the NDP can realistically expect to win a seat in La La Land.” Isn’t that out by Ha Ha Bay …
WHAT’S IN A NAME? While on the irresistible topic of Newfoundland place names, the Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism website has some of the more memorable ones broken down by category. Place names created with a twinkle in the eye: Jerry’s Nose, Nick’s Nose Cove, and Little Looping Harbour. Places named after hardship: Gripe Point, Bad Bay, Bleak Island, Famine Point, Famish Gut and Empty Basket. Names that reflected the good mood of settlers: Heart’s Desire, Safe Harbour, Comfort Cove, Sweet Bay, Too Good Arm and Little Paradise. Places named by homesick settlers: English Harbour, Portugal Cove, Turk’s Island and Ireland’s Eye. When imagination ran low our forefathers turned to Plate Cove, Ladle Cove, Spout Cove, Table Cove, Spoon Cove and Bread Island. Outports named after animals: Horse Chops, Hare’s Ears Point and Cat Gut. Worth a mention: Button Island, Stocking Harbour and Petticoat Harbour. Not to mention: Hatchet Cove, Sitdown Pond and Goblin. How about: God Bay and Devil Cove. Dry of ideas, Newfoundlanders of old went with Nameless Cove and Harbour Harbour. How colourful were we at all …
NO GREAT FUTURE The latest edition of Newfoundland Quarterly includes a fascinating piece by Melanie Martin on resettlement. In an Oct. 29, 1957 press release, thenpremier Joey Smallwood estimated as many as 200 outports and 50,000 people — facing “no great future” — could be resettled. Between 1965 and
1970, 3,242 households, totaling 16,114 people from 119 communities were uprooted. The total cost to the federal and provincial governments came in at $7.4 million, representing an average payment of $30,700 per household In today’s figures, that would work out to $166,000 per household, for a total program price tag of just over $40 million. Not much need of a government-sponsored resettlement program today — Alberta companies pay relocation expenses …
INDEED I IS Our population may be dropping but at least our culture remains intact, including “invented traditions.” The latest Quarterly also includes a story by Roger Bill on the Screech-in, whose origins may be traced back to military welcoming and farewell ceremonies on the old U.S. Naval Base at Argentia. But the Screech-in may go back beyond that to sealers preparing to head to the Front. “They had some kind of ceremony that involved a drink of rum.” According to Memorial folklorist Philip Hiscock, Joe Murphy, a singer and drummer in the 1960s band Joe Murphy and the Beachcombers, told him he was holding Screech-ins at the Bella Vista club in St. John’s in the early 1970s with the late Joan Morrissey. The cod-kissing ceremony wasn’t loved by all. When former premier Clyde K. Wells took to Confederation Building’s 8th floor in 1989 he discovered dozens of Screech-in certificates — which he had destroyed. No worries about the NDP following Wells’ lead. They’d have to get elected first … BUMPY RIDE The Halifax Daily News carried an interesting piece this week about Lee Croft, who was bumped from an Air Canada flight recently while traveling to Newfoundland from Calgary. Nothing unusual about that, except Croft is 13 years old and his mom was pretty upset that her baby was stranded in Nova Scotia’s international airport. Congratulations to Air Canada for its efforts to turn around its tattered reputation. The trick is to get them when they’re young …
TO BE ENDURED The reviews of Young Triffie, the Newfoundland movie directed by Mary Walsh and based on a story by Ray Guy, aren’t exactly warm and fuzzy. The Globe and Mail said fans of Walsh will expect something considerably wittier than “a heavy-handed farce more to be endured than enjoyed.” According to the Globe review, the movie never recovers from a needlessly graphic scene in which a doctor jokes about the wounds on a nude adolescent girl’s dead body. “There’s also a contrived happy ending, though, strictly speaking, in a
movie as painfully unfunny as Young Triffie, almost any ending is a happy one.” Ouch. Personally, I wouldn’t say anything to offend Mary, whose alter ego just happens to be Marg, the Princess Warrior …
Great uncle Al’s house.
FULL OF BEANS Ron Pumphrey, a native of Harbour Grace known far and wide as a former host of a nightly radio talk show on VOCM, is set to release his memoirs. The book’s title, Human Beans is a play on how Pumphrey pronounced human beings as a boy. Pumphrey, who dedicates the book to his darling Marilyn (“who is still taming the wild horse in me”), lives in a cottage built into the slope of a hill in Quidi Vidi Village near Ye Olde Inn. Pumphrey spent the first dollar at the pub when it opened in 1977. The bill is kept in a glass-fronted frame on a wall near the bar, and is said to be a conversation piece among the bean-counter crowd …
COFFEE CHIPS The drink of choice these days isn’t alcohol so much as a coffee from Tim Hortons. Starting as early as this summer you won’t have to scramble for change to pay for a double double. The April 9 edition of MacLean’s includes an article on how Tim stores across Canada will start accepting socalled contactless credit cards fitted with radio frequency chips. For purchases under $25, customers will simply press their cards against a screen, making for quicker service and higher sales. Purchases will no longer be limited to the change rattling in your pocket or hunted between the seats of the car. God bless technology …
A shot of Country Road between Cappahayden and Portugal Cove South on the Southern Shore. The top two photos were taken in and around Trepassey. Photos by Terry Sutton.
ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca
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4 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
APRIL 20, 2007
‘This is about telling the truth’ Goodale says Liberals will make equalization controversy federal election issue
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By Ivan Morgan The Independent
ormer federal Liberal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale, who negotiated the 2005 updated Atlantic Accord with Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, says the debate over equalization is no longer a detailed technical argument over interpreting the formula. Goodale says it is now about Stephen Harper’s integrity. He says federal officials are not to blame for the controversy. In regards to keeping non-renewable resources out of the equalization formula, Goodale says, “Harper looked people in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan in the eye and didn’t tell them the truth.” He says this will cost the PM in the next election. “The issue is trust. The issue is credibility. And that’s what makes this, I think, the mother of all betrayals.” “This is about telling the truth,” Goodale tells The Independent via cellphone from outside the House of Commons. “People are beginning to say, well, there was this lie on equalization. And of course there was that other lie about income trusts.” Goodale says Harper’s budget is a failure, and the blame lies squarely with his government, not with federal finance officials. Returning from his vacation down south this week, Premier Danny Williams accused federal Finance officials of misleading provincial officials and Memorial University professor Wade Locke as they attempted to make sense of the equalization formulas
Opposition House leader Ralph Goodale.
offered in the Harper government’s most recent budget. “The federal Department of Finance has basically misled our own government, our people and of course an inde-
pendent economist,” the premier told reporters. Goodale says in his experience federal Finance officials always have the national view in mind, but will advise a
REUTERS/J.P. Moczulski
minister on any options requested — even if they benefit other provinces over Ottawa. “I have found, in my dealings with the officials in the Department of
Finance, that they are very thorough, very competent professionals.” Goodale says once a minister has made a decision, federal officials “just pull out the stops” to support the direction the minister wants to take. “So I really don’t think that this controversy in Newfoundland can be in any way attributed to the officials.” Goodale says there is a rule of thumb among Finance ministers — Liberal and Conservative “and all the rest” — if a budget gets debated for a couple of days and then disappears from the public agenda, “you’ve got a big political success on your hands.” “But in this case we are now one month from the presentation of the Conservative budget and it is still a hot topic of debate, controversy, and unhappiness,” he says. “So what I think Mr. Harper has to conclude — and the evidence is pretty compelling — is that his budget was a failure.” Goodale says Williams’ national ad campaign outlining Harper’s failure to live up to his commitment has helped make Canadians more aware of questions surrounding Harper’s integrity. “I think the advertising was a key part of the flow of events up to now and I suspect that flow of events is not yet over.” “There is something fundamentally unpleasant about this prime minister that makes Canadians very uneasy about the notion that he would ever come near to unbridled political power.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
Northeast Avalon towns appeal for increased police presence; province may comply
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By Mandy Cook The Independent
he mayor of Conception Bay South doesn’t have to look far to find a victim of crime in his burgeoning town of 21,000. Woodrow French’s own backyard was the scene of a recent break-in, with thieves making off with a lawnmower from his shed and the wheel rims off his car. When he contacted the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to report the theft, he was surprised by their advice. “They said to check the flea markets,” he tells The Independent. Earlier this month, French and Torbay Mayor, Robert Codner — representing 10 communities on the
Northeast Avalon from Mount Pearl to Holyrood — met with Justice Minister Tom Osbourne and RNC Chief Joseph Browne to lobby for more police officers. French says the situation is so bad residents don’t report incidents of vandalism, break-ins and theft because they don’t see the point. He says there have been instances of home invasions where intruders only steal cash and don’t bother to take valuables. “There are a number of reasons for that and that would include … people having a serious drug habit. They need to have the drugs and the need is more powerful than the fear and it’s making them braver and bolder.” Osbourne says the provincial government has put 75 new officers on patrol
since November 2003 but acknowledges the ballooning population of the area warrants more in the future. “Can we say that there are enough in place? What I am prepared to say is government has invested significantly in the Northeast Avalon and in all of the province. We will continue to do so and I’m sure in the upcoming budget we’ll also see some dedication to both the RNC and RCMP police forces.” Const. Shawn O’Reilly of the RNC says all crimes should be reported to police. He says to not do so may hinder the force’s ability to manage crime in the area. “If I find someone I think has committed a crime, or is acting suspicious and I have reason to hold them and search them and I find property on
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them that I know is not theirs, I can’t connect it back to the victim because it’s not reported.” French agrees with O’Reilly regarding the importance of reporting crime. But he says he can “empathize” with those who fail to do so because of the perceived unlikelihood of retrieving their property and concerns of perpetrators returning to the scene. “They’re not reporting for fear of reprisal,” says French. “It’s kind of sad when these people have given their lives to their community . . . and all they want now is to have a little bit of peace and quiet, and to have to worry about someone breaking into your house or shed, or smack down your windows, or defacing your property — I think it’s unconscionable, but that’s
the society we live in.” Royal Newfoundland The Constabulary police three areas of the province — the St. John’s area, Corner Brook and Labrador City. Despite the call for more officers, the number of calls for assistances in Corner Brook and Conception Bay South didn’t fluctuate much between 2004 and 2006. According to statistics provided by the Justice Department, the number of calls for Constabulary assistance in Corner Brook (pop. 20,105) stood at 8,500 in 2004, compared to 8,400 in 2006. Likewise, the number of calls in Conception Bay South (pop. 21,000) stood at 3,700 in 2004, compared to 3,800 in 2006. mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 5
Absentee nominee
Fort McMurray resident looking for PC nomination in Baie Verte-Springdale
R
By Ivan Morgan The Independent
andy Edison says seeking the Tory nomination for the district of Baie Verte-Springdale from his new home in Fort McMurray, Alta. will pose challenges, but it also has its positives. “It probably puts me at a slight disadvantage,” Edison says in a telephone interview with The Independent. He says more than a quarter of families in his district have at least one family member working in Alberta. Moving to Fort McMurray, he says, has given him a better perspective on what many in his district experience. “Since I have come here I have found out that things in this part of the world aren’t as rosy, and there are struggles with many issues,” says Edison.
As the former editor of the Quebecowned Transcontinental weekly district newspaper The Nor’wester for more than 10 years, the 45-year-old Edison says he is well versed in the politics, economy and social fabric of the area. In the introduction to his book Adventures at Wolf Bay, Edison describes himself as a “stay-at-home Newfoundlander who refuses to leave.” He says he didn’t move to Fort McMurray for work reasons but for family reasons, and always planned to return to the province in the summer of 2008. Getting the nomination, he says, would just move his plans ahead. Edison says he met with supporters during a recent visit home, and was “humbled” by the level of support he found. He says the date for the nomination has yet to be set, but he hoped
RETURNING HOME
it would be called “sooner rather than later” because he did some campaigning during his visit and hoped “not to lose that effect.” He says if he wins the nomination he will return to campaign.
Progressive Conservative party campaign chair Ross Reid says he has not seen the phenomenon of absentee nominees before “and is not seeing a lot of it now. “On one hand it is interesting that people are moving back and forth and running, I also find it interesting that someone who has moved away wants to come back and run,” says Reid. NDP president Nancy Riche says her party has no problem with people in other parts of the country seeking nominations in the province. She says it shows “there are an awful lot of people living away who don’t want to be there.
That’s what it means, unfortunately.” Provincial Liberal president Danny Dumaresque could not be reached for comment. Edison says he will be campaigning in Fort McMurray for votes back in his district. He says he runs into people from the district frequently, recently meeting two couples he knows from the district at a local bus stop on their way to work at a Randy Edison Syncrude site. “They are people who are there for the short term. They won’t be home for the nomination but they will for the election,” says Edison. “I take every chance I can to talk
Sgt. Roxanne Clowe/DND
to those people and of course they are talking to family members back home about the fact that they have been talking to me up here and I am seeking the nomination.” Edison says it is not “direct campaigning” but he says it will work. “I am sure it’ll pay off.” He says he met Premier Danny Williams “for about a minute” when Williams was in Fort McMurray in February. He says he told the premier of his interest in seeking the nomination, and he got the impression the premier was surprised, but possibly distracted by the crowds of people waiting to talk to him.
Paul Daly/The Independent
Corporal Matthew Dicks of Conception Bay (left) speaks to fellow soldiers after attending the ramp ceremony at Kandahar Air Field for two of his fallen comrades. Cpl. Dicks was injured in the same bomb blast that killed Master Corporal Allen Steward and Trooper Patrick James Pentland of New Brunswick. Cpl. Dicks was injured two days after two Newfoundland soldiers, Sgt. Donald Lucas and Pte. Kevin Kennedy, were killed in a separate explosion in Afghanistan. Lucas’ funeral (right) took place in St. John’s on Wednesday, April 18.
Straight-up storytelling From page 1
Hey Newfoundland & Labrador miser.ca is now province wide! Joel Thomas Hynes
Paul Daly/The Independent
the bottom,” Hynes quotes. “I’m basing it on a place that I might have been at one point in my life,” he adds. “Just not getting it done, not making the right decisions for myself, and just waiting for something to fall from the sky when it never does … you’ve got to shoot it down.” If anything, Hynes seems to be having the opposite problem lately, he’s firing on all cylinders — with film, theatre and writing projects somehow managing to converge at once. And to top it off — inspired by the fear of complacency — he’s already started his next book. “My new book is all going to be non-fiction. It’s called Delusions of a Rival. “I found a copy of Down to the Dirt in a little bookstore on the boardwalk in Venice Beach and that’s when I got the title, because I felt like holy f—k, sure, what do I have to worry about? And I think I might have gone out drinking that night. I had actually found validation, and it’s really tricky. It’s really tricky when you start to have a name or have any degree of success whatsoever. You need to kick through the bullshit and stick to the reasons why you were doing it in the first place. “If Right Away Monday bombed out, it wouldn’t stop me from writing the next one, and if I could never get a publisher again, I’d still write 10 more.” Say Nothing Saw Wood runs at the LSPU Hall May 7-13.
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One such incident helped inspire Say Nothing Saw Wood. The play, which started out as a short novel, is about antihero Jude Traynor, a sentenced murderer, “working himself out in front of an audience” as he reflects on a split-second decision he made a decade before in his late teens. The decision culminated in the death of an elderly woman and changed Traynor’s life forever. The play, or “dramatized recitation,” is a story Hynes says he always intended to write. It’s loosely based on a sensational murder that took place in his hometown of Calvert on the Southern Shore in the 1970s, but it’s also the result of a serious wake-up call he himself experienced at the age of 17. A self-confessed “hard ticket … largely considered to be a nuisance,” Hynes says he was strolling down a lane after a night of drinking, when for no particular reason, he picked up a fist-sized rock and hurled it into the air. “While it was still in the air, out around the side of this shack — and this was about seven o’clock in the morning — there was a man walked out that I couldn’t see when I threw it because of the bend in the road. Suddenly he was there, and he had two little girls, hand in hand, and I threw this rock and I just saw it going right for the girl on the outside, and she must have been two or three … everything just stopped; that was my life right there.” The rock just missed the girl, but the incident hit Hynes hard. “I’ve just been quite fascinated by how close you can come sometimes to really just ending everything by chance and I sort of worked that concept into this story.” Say Nothing Saw Wood has already won a Best Dramatic Script Award from the 2005 Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters competition, which bodes well for a production Hynes describes as a return to oral story-telling theatre with no “bells and whistles. “There’s a lot of pressure, because if you take a good hard look at what entertains people these days, you know, it’s not always straight-up storytelling,” he says. Straight-up story telling (with dramatic flair) is where Hynes excels, but that doesn’t stop him from being nervous about how his highly anticipated second novel Right Away Monday will be received by the public. “I really hope it’s taken with an open mind.” The book is set in Hynes’ own “twisted” version of a fictitious downtown St. John’s. Major characters from Down to the Dirt, like his alter-ego protagonist Keith Kavanagh, pop up in occasional periphery cameos, and minor characters from that same novel make larger appearances. The main character (another anti-hero) is named Clayton Reid, but Hynes says the book carries a mix of voices. The title is an homage to Alan Sillitoe’s book, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, a gritty working-class novel set in Nottingham, England. “With 11 pints of beer and seven small gins playing hideand-seek inside his stomach, he fell from the topmost stair to
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6 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
APRIL 20, 2007
With us or agin’ us P
oor ole Danny can’t steal a frontpage headline these days to save himself, but then it’s hard for anyone, Fighting Newfoundlanders included, to dominate the news when chunks of the Northern Peninsula are falling off, pack ice squeezes the guts from the sealing fleet, and dead soldiers are paraded through our streets. A call by the premier this week for the resignation of the federal minister of Finance, and a dressing down of his bureaucratic lackeys, failed to lead the local news, overshadowed by so much else that ails us. Life in Newfoundland is hard enough without Ottawa sticking it to us every chance it gets. But if it’s a fight they’re after they’ve come to the right place. Danny’s been bronzed and brazened by a vacation down south. Dan the Tan is a dangerous man. Upon his return, the premier ripped into Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and his officials for misleading Newfoundlanders and Labradorians (Canadians too) in terms of how well we’ll do with the Atlantic Accord deal and equalization once all is said and the bureaucrats are done. As for Flaherty’s resignation, the ink isn’t exactly dry on the paper. A spokesman for the minister told The Globe and Mail that Danny’s demand
RYAN CLEARY
Fighting Newfoundlander
was ludicrous. (The story, Flaherty misled Nfld, should resign, premier says, made it to page 8 of the April 19 Globe, well behind the two page 3 stories: Crushing ice imprisons sealing ships and Newfoundland town cut off after roadway collapses. Just the premier’s luck that the sky would fall in Newfoundland and he’s not the one to bring it down.) The Flaherty spokesman went on to say how unfortunate it is that Danny’s “manufactured outrage” is driven “more by the need to get a good headline than it is by the facts.” Asked why the federal government didn’t try to fix the inflated equalization calculations days before, the spokesman wouldn’t comment. “I’m not going to speak on behalf of Mr. (Loyola) Hearn’s office or what they did.” Our representative in the federal cabinet isn’t saying much either, but then there’s no defence for selling out to the
mainland crowd. As Danny says, it’s just our luck to have a John Efford and Loyola Hearn “back to back” in Ottawa. “Who cares about Hearn,” the premier told reporters at one point. “If he had any guts he’d step aside.” All three of the province’s Conservative MPs — Hearn, Norm Doyle and Fabian Manning — should be “ashamed of themselves” for accepting the “crumbs” handed out to “the peasants.” (That would be you and I.) He went on to describe the recently announced fishery renewal package as “a pittance.” Danny says the federal Conservatives are an arrogant crowd, political opportunists looking to stay in power. There’s no doubt Doyle and Manning are tight with Hearn. The two can’t move in Ottawa unless Hearn pulls their puppet strings. Doyle will soon retire to his pension spoils, but Manning will have a decision to make. Does he stay loyal to Hearn, his friend and mentor, or does he cut the strings and stand on his own, like a true Newfoundlander first. In terms of his political life, Manning must choose between life and death. The MP has said in the past that he has two choices when it comes to Ottawa: either work inside the system or work outside the system.
To date he has sided against his people, a decision he will no doubt reconsider in the weeks and months leading up to a federal election. “There are aspects of the budget that appear to be an issue with some people in the province,” Manning said in a recent statement. “The fact remains that the people of the riding of Avalon (notice he didn’t say Hearnland) gave me a mandate to work on their behalf as a member of the Government of Canada … I can do more for them (constituents) if I remain a member of government.” The idea has been bandied about in recent times of electing seven independent MPs to Ottawa. Critics say that won’t do much good — seven MPs against 301 isn’t much better odds than we have now. Those same critics say MPs — either Liberal, Conservative or NDP — would have a better chance of pushing this place forward by working within the traditional structure. Point taken, but Confederation’s 58year track record isn’t exactly a glowing one. For the federal government maybe, but not for us. Seven independent MPs could serve well for us, but only if they’re given a mandate, a manifesto of clear objectives regarding the fisheries, oil and gas,
hydro power and federal jobs and services. The manifesto would be presented to the people of the province in the form of an election platform, and, ideally, the people would stand behind it. Political stripe be damned. Michael Temelini, a political science professor with Memorial University in St. John’s, told The Independent this week that separation should be considered a bargaining chip when it comes to the federal government. He says his stand isn’t a popular one at the university, and Temelini expects to be taken to task for his comments. He says there’s nothing wrong with asking whether there’s a better way. True, but people are afraid; they feel threatened. I say Newfoundlanders and Labradorians must finally face their fears. Temelini doesn’t want Newfoundland and Labrador to separate, not if it doesn’t have to, but believes the province should consider all options. That’s the smart thing to do. The first thing we have to get past, he says, is the “ignorant, vocal minority of old curmudgeons in this province.” The bigger dragon to slay will be the media. ryan.cleary@theindependent.ca
YOURVOICE ‘This needs to become a national issue’ Dear editor, My grandfather, Major General Sir David Watson, was one of the commanding generals at Vimy Ridge. Vimy Ridge was a stupid battle in a stupid war and I am sure that my grandfather was one of the more stupid generals. I applaud Morgan’s efforts and those of Noreen Golfman to expose the stupidity of our participation in the Afghanistan conflict. Our troops should be home guarding our country, not involved in an impossible
conflict on the other side of the world. Can you get Morgan’s comments published in The Globe and Mail? This needs to become a national issue. I would support any political party that would have the guts to oppose sending our troops to Afghanistan. How about organizing an anti-Afghanistan war rally on July 1. It would certainly make headlines. John W. Evans, Logy Bay
‘My father would role over in his grave’
Dear editor, My father was Hughie Shea, a man of great pride in Newfoundland and her people up to his dying days. My father was a man of great charisma, with world-class oratory skills. He was an honest man who never clouded the waters with underhanded, deceptive talk, to fill the pockets of himself, his family, or any of his associates. Newfoundland was her own country when we decided to join Canada. Unlike any of the other provinces to join, we were our own nation. Newfoundland had its own legal system, copied from the British, its own stamps, with postal service, as well as our own Newfoundland currency. The Newfoundland Rangers were our police force. We were just as much a country as Canada is a country today. And being a noble, honest and true people, we expected our new homeland to remain the same after 1949. Low and behold, since the Terms of Union were signed and up to present day the Canadian wolf has been maliciously beating Newfoundland. Sad indeed. I am quite sure it’s obvious I am a Newfoundlander. Yet the reality of my conviction is one of great sadness. You see, I am a card-carrying member of the Canadian Dominion. Due to that inescapable fact, I am a Canadian citizen. So my country, adopted not long before I was born, is Canada. The desperately sad reality that my fellow Newfoundlanders and I have been facing since Confederation is that we are part of a dominion that keeps kicking us in the teeth. Once a thorough beating
appears to be over, or at least drawing to a close, we are relentlessly beaten again. As I grew from boyhood into manhood, my father made it clear that we were Canadians first, Newfoundlanders second. Well no more. I cry out to my fellow Newfoundlanders that we are a proud, strong, and intelligent people. I am a Newfoundlander first, and my membership in the Dominion of Canada now takes a desperately poor second. My father would roll over in his grave, if he knew the grandiose injustices committed against the sons and daughters of our land. The big lie: Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused to honour the Atlantic Accord funding that he promised before the election. As a people who have been beaten again and again, it is critically important that we use the great Newfoundland resources that are ours, and at our disposal, to ensure our fiscal sustainability. Time and again Newfoundland has been burdened with debts that cower us into a corner. No more. We must ensure our children grow up in a land that honours them, and motivates them to love their country. The position of the Dominion of Canada’s governing bodies has been to repeatedly give Newfoundland the shortest end of the stick. My fellow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, let us all cry out in our unbeatable voice of conviction to Harper and his despicable, lying, flim flam of a federal government: we are not going to take their despicable behaviour any more. Paul Shea, St. John’s
AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR
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Do jihadists in Kandahar threaten Conception Bay South?
Dear editor, By throwing his support behind Independent columnist Noreen Golfman’s position, Ivan Morgan has displayed significant courage (Hiding behind patriotic anger, April 13 edition). Those who support Canada’s participation in the guerilla war in Afghanistan have shown they are willing to attempt to intimidate those who dissent. Morgan must expect a backlash as furious as that borne by Golfman earlier this year (Blowing with the wind … Jan. 12 edi-
tion, drawing dozens of letters from across the country and around the world). Despite the propaganda veil erected by the Liberals and Conservatives, echoed nightly in our private and public media, a slight majority of Canadians do not support the deployment of the Canadian Armed Forces in what we are implored to call “the mission.” These dissenting opinions may be easily reached. If Rick Mercer, Peter Mansbridge or Stephen Harper can plausibly show how jihadists in
Kandahar threaten the citizens of Toronto or Conception Bay South, then they might have a case. But, of course, it is the presence of the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan and the inevitability of collateral damage during acts of aggression against the Taliban that actually create a threat to the citizens of large Canadian cities (to the degree it exists). The best way that we could support our troops would be to bring them home from Afghanistan. David A. Peters, St. John’s
Memorial must reexamine priorities
Dear editor, When a new president is appointed at Memorial University in the near future, there should be a renewed emphasis on the importance of providing opportunities for young Newfoundlanders to acquire an affordable education. This will require a new ordering of financial priorities. I was concerned to learn recently via an official request for information to Memorial that the Katz report cost the university almost $200,000. Dr. Katz was unilaterally selected by the MUN president to investigate his administration’s handling of the concerns raised by my good friend, the late Dr. Deepa Khosla. At $2,000 a day, Dr. Katz’s professional expenditures amounted to $185,000. Having already expressed my serious misgivings about
the content of that report in an earlier issue of The Independent, I will only state here that I am glad I had the foresight not to become involved in that process and never spoke to Dr. Katz. Dr. Katz relied on hearsay, gossip and ignored the evidence to conclude that the university administration acted in good faith and that the stalker about whom Dr. Khosla was so concerned was benign. Dr. Katz also made some general observations and recommendations. I wonder whether $200,000 was worth the expense to discover, as she apparently did, that Memorial has a male culture. Memorial students presently pay $85 per credit hour or $255 for a three-credit hour course. Although that may be quite reasonable, it is still a steep price
for many families, particularly those from rural Newfoundland. There is a serious need for more free-tuition scholarships to support students and encourage more Newfoundlanders to acquire a university education. The expenses on the Katz report could have funded 778 free courses for our students. Allotting a five-course load as the norm per student, the money spent on the Katz report could have provided free tuition to 155 young Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and given them the opportunity to acquire a university education with all the resulting opportunities. A better ordering of financial priorities — one that considers the needs of students as primary — is long overdue. Dr. R.K.L. Panjabi, St. John’s
‘Acidic, calloused, unchristian-like tone’ Dear editor, Through the past few decades Christendom around the world — more particularly, our small piece of it in this province — has been pummeled, shaken to its very core by the scars of child sexual abuse at the hands of a relative few clerics (we must remember that the vast majority of the ordained are excellent human beings, continuing to carry out the work for which they were ordained to do, and doing it well). In an April 13 letter to the editor, ‘Skillful solo act’, St. John’s resident Jerry Lewis wrote that an alleged victim
of sexual misconduct by a Catholic priest, Rev. Wayne Dohey, seemed “too prepared” when interviewed on CBC Radio. The victim, he said, ‘sounded polished, rehearsed, articulate, careful and leading.” Why would she not be, I would ask? The then-child, and now young lady, had seven or eight confused and troubled years, constantly replaying the “emotional tapes” over and over, forever questioning her soul and mind. You are damned right she was prepared and polished, Mr. Lewis. Shame on you to impugn other motives.
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from a jail in Alabama to his faithful in which he stated, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” Into which group would you see yourself belonging, Mr. Lewis — good willed or ill willed? Either way, there was little redemption to be found in your remarks. Personally, I did not like your acidic, calloused, unchristian-like tone. Ronald Tizzard, Paradise
APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 7
Boiled frog society T here is an urban legend that claims one can put a frog in water, and slowly heat that water to boiling, killing the frog. The point, other than some people are sick and twisted, is that the frog isn’t supposed to notice. My point? I think we are a nation of boiled frogs. This occurred to me as I was driving through town the other day, and realized that not only could I not see the lines painted on the road — there weren’t any. They had worn completely away. Not even a hint of where they were supposed to be. Passing motorists were using dead reckoning to understand where turning lanes, passing lanes, and other driving indicators were supposed to be. You have to love the Newfoundland driver. We are so used to it we don’t even notice. Road line painting has become more and more lax, with the times between repainting longer and longer. We have just adapted. We didn’t notice the slow change. We are boiled frogs. I remember when we got a brand new elementary school out our way. It was so terrific. We had being dealing with a terribly run-down facility for so long that, as I walked through the new school for the first time, I could not understand why we had not demanded it earlier. How could we have put up with the old school so long? I guess we didn’t notice the water getting warmer. Schools all over this province are deteriorating at a steady pace. People make do. They use buckets to catch the rainwater leaking from ceilings; they put on extra sweaters to ward off the cold from lowered thermostats in winter. Teachers work weekends to “fundraise” for such basics as computers and books. We just let it happen. Boiled frogs. Some parents in Paradise thought they needed a new school. They spoke up. One of the fastest growing communities in the whole province was told “no.” The Eastern School District told them the water wasn’t getting warmer. Pay no notice. Keep swimming folks, they said, and we’ll “renovate” the school instead. And the water gets warmer and warmer. Funny part is the school district needs the people of Paradise more than the Town of Paradise needs them. It will be interesting to see what happens when they figure this out. Maybe the frog will clue in and hop out of the water? Things crumble around us and we don’t complain. Line-ups in hospitals get longer. Highway ruts get deeper. We learn to memorize the potholes on the way home. Government services get cut back, then cut back more, and then cut back again. Fees are affixed to everything from birth certificates to pop bottles. We don’t complain. Just swim around in the ever-warming water.
IVAN MORGAN
Rant & Reason
Now here we are at tax time, a nation of boiled frogs. We are being asked again to fork over a sizeable chunk of our salaries. And we do — without question. Every litre of gas, every bottle of beer, every purchase, every spark of electricity has a tax attached to it. So where’s it all going? Not on your highways. Not on your schools. Where? Does it pay the generous salaries of the folks raising the water temperature? Maybe it’s me, but sometimes government can just be insulting. They are forever putting little notes and flyers in your mailbox, singing the virtues of something they’ve done — spending your money to tell you how they’ve spent your money. So I had an idea. I suggest we start something. We can call ourselves the Boiled Frogs Society. We can send little notes back to the government in our tax forms. Telling them how to spend the money you are sending them. Just jot something down on a scrap of paper. Little notes that say stuff like “Lay off buying $1 billion submarines that don’t work.” Or “Stop bribing me with this money — it was mine to begin with.” Not up on the issues? Try the generic “Stop pissing this away — I worked hard for it.” Sign them “BFS.” Slide them in your tax forms when you send them in. None of you will do this for fear you might draw attention to yourselves, and be singled from the herd. No one wants that. Getting singled out for attention might mean they squat you. Too bad. If we were a herd, then we would be a force to be reckoned with, but the problem is always that someone has to go first. There has to be a way to get a better bang for our tax buck. We should be able to afford the basics. We should not have to be on guard, always watching for the little things. I always thought pet food was regulated. Silly me. We should not have our services quietly — some might say sneakily, invisibly — taken from us so slowly most of us don’t even notice. It seems that no matter how hard we try to send folks off to talk to the government, they come back telling us how lucky we are to have the government we do. Must be something in the water. Like a slowly warming frog . . . ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
YOUR VOICE Wave energy way to go Dear editor, Waves are the result of the effects of wind on oceans and seas. The energy contained within waves around the world is huge. The theory is that if we can capture this energy we can supply most of our needs. Already many devices are being studied for producing electricity from waves: the Buoyant Moored device, the Hinged Contour Device, and the Oscillating Water Column (OWC). I shall confine description to the latter because it is operating and producing electricity on the Island of Islay, west coast of Scotland. This method of generating power works by the wave driving a column of water, which drives air before it to drive a turbine. This device may be fixed to the seabed or installed on shore (as at Islay). The Limpet, as it is called, produces 75 kilowatts of electricity. Not a big lot by our hydro standards, but a taste of things to come.
Cry for the soldiers
Dear editor, I don’t believe in flags; they can camouflage the most villainous intent. I don’t believe in religion; the most hideous crimes are committed in the name of dogma. I don’t believe in war; the mounds of slaughter in the name of its siblings, nationalism, power, and religion provide evidence of the insanity throughout history. I would embrace nihilism if it were not so difficult to defend. But there are simply too many things of beauty in people and nature. Therein lies my hope, the hope of humanism in its truest sense. It is in this hope and with a deep sense of gratitude and sorrow that my heart goes out to those families of Canadian soldiers who died in Afghanistan. Soldiers anywhere for that matter. It is a great deal more than troubling; it is tragic and
My grandson, a graduate mechanical engineer and worldwide surfer, says Cape Race would make an ideal place for an OWC generator. He further confides in me that when he has more experience he would like to help design and install wave generators. I have only briefly described wave energy, but I think it enough to interest Premier Danny Williams, and I have a few suggestions for the province. Contact researchers at Queen’s University, Belfast in Northern Ireland. Islay’s wave power generator was designed and built by Wavegen. Contact Professor Alan Watts, Queen’s University. Based on conversations, invite these experts and others to a wave-energy symposium to be held at Memorial University. Such discussions may suggest a need to identify wave energy sites in Newfoundland and Labrador. Chas Luter, Buchans
heartbreaking to lose these fine young people. We would be less than human if we didn’t question and wonder why they died. Mindless patriotism is no substitute for a caring and generous spirit. The intent of their sacrifice was for the benefit of others, so to them we owe a debt that cannot be repaid. War is often repulsive politics and must be questioned. But the generosity of their individual sacrifice must never be questioned. So it is to them as individuals I publicly give homage — not a flag. It is them, as individuals, I revere — not nationalism. It is before them as individuals I kneel, not dogma. And it is for them and their families, as decent human beings, for whom I cry. Robert Rowe, St. John’s
YOURVOICE
% N V I R O N ME N T A L P R O T E C T I O N I S S E R I O U S B U S I N E S S n A B U S I N E S S WE WO R K T O B E T T E R E V E R Y H O U R O F E V E R Y D A Y A recent coyote harvest in the Sandy Harbour/Gisborne Lake/Mile Hill area.
Remove knee-jerk politics from coyote management Dear editor, Re Coyote ugly, a front-page story by Ivan Morgan in the April 13 edition: while I have no objection to an annual coyote hunt or trapping season, sadly this wild dog butchery is based entirely on hysteria created mostly by those with self-serving interests. It takes place at a time when biologists have access to decades of research. The eastern coyote is probably the most studied animal in North America. Research has consistently demonstrated that attempting to reduce the coyote’s population by having an open season or cull defies the basic law of coyote nature. For over 100 years the eastern coyote has been subjected to slaughters such as was depicted in The Independent article. Yet the animal has successfully spread all across the eastern seaboard because after each large-scale cull the animal responds by increasing its pup count. This fact was demonstrated in a couple of studies that compared unexploited coyote populations in Yellowstone Park during the late 1930s, and a
comparable study in Yellowstone in 1980 with over-exploited populations. It was found that in an area of extensive coyote control, the animal may have six to eight pups per litter, while in Yellowstone Park, where there was no control, the litter sizes were half that. Similarly, with over-exploited populations the studies found that between 50 and 60 per cent of the yearlings breed, while in Yellowstone the majority of unexploited animals waited until they were two years old before they produced young. Unfortunately, government implemented this ridiculous slaughter policy without the science to support its effectiveness on declining Caribou herds. So I would suggest that government take the knee-jerk politics out of coyote management and give this animal the respect it has earned over this past century. In essence implement a sound management policy based on science rather than on the hysterical cry of “kill them before they eat all the caribou.” Eugene Conway, Conception Harbour
APRIL 20, 2007
8 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
IN CAMERA
Fandemonium
I
t’s just minutes before game four of the Herder Memorial Championships and the Deer Lake Red Wings are having a laugh. A bearded Steve Richards trots past the lineup of players, stopping only to give one of his teammates a homemade jock test — a stick to the crotch, hopefully accompanied by the sound of plastic. Their opponents, the CBN CeeBees, head onto the ice quietly, grimly focused on the game that could get them back in the series. Despite their silence, the team is greeted by dozens of air horns and a huge ovation from the crowd as they step onto the Mile One ice. The loyalties are clear: tonight, this city arena belongs to the bay. The two teams are evenly balanced, with star match-ups like Darren Langdon versus Sean Wadden, high scorers, and equal amounts of heart. But when the series shifts back to Corner Brook this weekend for game
The Herder Memorial Championship is the pinnacle of the senior hockey season in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Conception Bay North CeeBees took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series last weekend in St. John’s, but when game six takes to the ice in Corner Brook on April 21 the Deer Lake Red Wings and their “Wing Nut” fans will be hoping for two title-clinching wins. Photo editor Paul Daly and reporter John Rieti took in the sellout game on Saturday, April 14. six, and possibly seven, the game will be as important for the fans as it is for the players, and the fans might be enough to shape the outcome. Mile One Stadium was packed for all three games last weekend, highlighted by a sell-out crowd of 5,813 on April 14.
According to Lisa Neville, general manager of Mile One Stadium, the Herder games have a huge impact on business in St. John’s. She says there were lineups to get into downtown bars. Mall retailers had a busy weekend, as did hotels and restaurants in the city.
Neville says up to $275,000 was generated in ticket and concession revenues, money that will go back into the senior hockey league. William Smith, general manager of the Pepsi Centre in Corner Brook, hopes for similar success on his side of the island. Tickets for game six on Saturday, April 21 aren’t on sale yet, but Smith says every indication leads him to believe it will be a sellout of 3,800. He says events like the Herder are why the Pepsi Centre was built. It wasn’t just more hockey fans than Mile One is used to at St. John’s Fog Devils games, it was a completely different demographic that took in the Herder. Of course, senior hockey is different to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, or the American Hockey League when it was in town. It still has the goals, the checks, the blood and the ice, but it has something more, a real connection to Newfoundland and Labrador. Most of
the fans know the players, or are related to them, and they make it a point to attend every single game. Jim Crane, a CeeBees fan for over 35 years, says he would go anywhere to watch his team, but feels a little out of sorts in Mile One. “I don’t like (Mile One) as much … you’re not as close to the ice,” he says. “It’s too nice for us, or, maybe we’re not good enough — we’re used to watching games in snow suits in the Harbour Grace arena.” Crane still remembers his days as a “bleacher creature,” sitting in Memorial Stadium’s cheap seats. “We used to throw whisky bottles at the referees,” he says. Luckily Crane is happy with today’s refereeing, and only has one of the plastic beer cups that replaced glass bottles to throw. Most of the hockey experts around Mile One figure the CeeBees will win the championship if they can stay out of the penalty box.
APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 9
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Don’t tell that to a Deer Lake fan. Known province-wide as “Wing Nuts,” the contingent of fans clad in red took over an entire section of seats for the weekend. Unlike CBN fans who are almost silent during play before exploding with cheer when their team scores, the Deer Lake supporters produce a constant stream of noise. Sitting behind a row of Wing Nuts provides the perfect play-by-play. Their chatter ranges from discussions about how individual players are doing, and screams of “Shoot,” to sharp inhalations followed by rounds of applause as their goalie holds off another CBN shot. According to Deer Lake fan Elizabeth Street, becoming a Wing Nut is easy. “You just go to one game,” she says. Since attending her first Red Wings game she hasn’t missed one, she reserves seats in two different arenas every season, and, of course, she has her own jersey. Accompanied by her husband Dave, making the cross-island trip was a given. But, for those who couldn’t make the trip, technologically-advanced Nut Mike Goulding videotapes each game and puts highlights on Youtube.com. But as much as senior hockey advances, it is
still firmly rooted in the past. Before the game a Mile One employee relates a story of his boyhood, and his infatuation with the Buchans Miners. “I was there, every game … you would look forward to those games for weeks,” he says. When he couldn’t make it to the games he would tune in to radio stations like KCM radio, CFCB, Gander Radio, and on special occasions VOCM. He thinks senior hockey has been in decline since the introduction of semi-professional hockey to the island, and the decline of rural communities like Buchans. Today, he says, fan support just isn’t there the way it used to be, gone like his Miners. These are tough times for senior hockey, many critics mournfully pointing out it has become a three-team league, with the CeeBees and Red Wings set to dominate in the coming years. But for everyone in the arena tonight, and those who will no doubt pack Corner Brook’s Pepsi Centre for game six, this hockey is special, and definitely something worth being a fan of. john.rieti@theindependent.ca
APRIL 20, 2007
10 • INDEPENDENTNEWS
Province owes bigtime
O
By Ivan Morgan The Independent
n the eve of the provincial budget, Finance Minister Tom Marshall explains the province’s debt. At $11.7 billion, the debt is the highest per capita in Canada, made up of direct loans and unfunded pension liabilities. Averaging approximately $23,000 per man, woman and child in the province, the debt dwarfs the Canadian average of approximately $10,000. The next highest provincial debt is Nova Scotia’s, at
approximately $13,000. Newfoundland and Labrador pays $947 million per year to service this debt — about the same as the provincial education budget. Marshall says the debt is so high because “we didn’t live annually within our means.” “I had this discussion with my daughter, and I said we kept spending more each year than we had,” Marshall tells The Independent. “And she said, ‘Well how can you do that?’ Of course we went and borrowed it.” Marshall won’t say whether the province is prepared to pay down the debt in advance of the April 26 budget.
Memorial University economist Wade Locke says the province has ways of managing debt, but is vulnerable to outside forces like interest and exchange rates. He says a rise in interest rates would have a delayed effect on the overall balance, but a drop in the Canadian dollar would be more immediate, as it would take more to buy the American dollars the province needs to pay the yearly interest it owes on the debt. That could take a bite out of future budgets. Marshall says there are two main sources of debt — borrowing to operate current programs and borrowing to build infrastructure.
He says borrowing to pay for current programs is like borrowing to pay for holidays or groceries. Borrowing for infrastructure is like taking out a mortgage to buy a house. “It is very similar to a family,” says Marshall. “It’s OK to take out a mortgage on a house as long as you can service the annual interest. But if you start borrowing to pay for the trip to Florida, or start borrowing to pay for the groceries you’re going to have problems.” Continuing with that analogy, he says the province has done that in the past, “and now we have to pay massive interest on that debt, we have to pay for our
programs, and we have to replace our crumbling home.” Citing 20th century economist John Maynard Keynes, Marshall says when times were bad there was nothing wrong with borrowing, but when times are good the money is supposed to be paid back. “I don’t think we’ve done that,” he says. “We have to start doing that so we don’t have to burden our children or future generations with paying for programs we’re enjoying now.” ivan.morgan@theindependent.ca
Smart investment
Memorial president wants more money — to make money
A
By John Rieti The Independent
xel Meisen wants the province to invest more money in Memorial University in next week’s budget, cash to make the institution more attractive to foreign and mainland students. “It’s not up to me to make recommendations to what government or others should do in general, but what I can do … is advocate investments and support in the university to build a better future,” Meisen tells The Independent. “We can count on significant amounts of money becoming available, and we can use these monies to create the opportunities for the people of our province to build a better life for themselves.” Meisen has been president of Memorial University for eight years and will end his final term in August 2008. He says interest in the university has grown since he came on board. think Newfoundlanders and “I Labradorians have become much more aware of the importance of advanced education,” he says. “They see the opportunities associated with the offshore oil and gas
industry, they clearly recognize that many of the jobs for that industry require tremendous skills of the kind that Memorial University provides.” Memorial University’s long term plan aims to bring 3,000 more students to Newfoundland by 2010, including 1,000 more international students. Meisen says increasing the province’s population is crucial. What the university is struggling to provide is campus infrastructure, particularly housing, that is appealing to prospective students. “I have to deal with the issue of physical infrastructure which in many cases now is quite aged, 30, 40 years old and no longer even functionally up to date,” he says. “A key element for us in the future is to attract people to the province, whether it be descendents of Newfoundlanders who have left, or maybe immigrants that are unrelated. We need to have a very proactive approach,” he says. Meisen adds the province also faces the challenge of bringing in more private and public sector players to develop projects like offshore oil. john.rieti@theindependent.ca
Axel Meisen
Paul Daly/The Independent
AROUND THE WORLD Mr. M.J. Kennedy, MHA, and wife left by the Bruce last night for a three months’ trip to America and Canada, going west to ‘Frisco and returning via Vancouver. — The Evening Chronicle, St. John’s, April 12, 1912
AROUND THE BAY Seals were very plentiful here at Seal Island about a week ago, but the ice was in solid and it was hard going to try and get any. That week was hard work for the women of the Island, too. They had to clean all the skins that were got and the old hoods were big and heavy to handle. You wanted your hulhues sharp for the job. — Cartwright Courier, April 15, 1969 YEARS PAST There has been several vessels arrived at Carbonear from the Ice, they are all well fished, and bring very cheering accounts of the prospect of the fishery. — The Star and Conception Bay Journal, April 11, 1840
EDITORIAL STAND These are unhappy days for the Coaker-Squires Government, and they are drinking deeply of the bitter cup of humiliation. Public opinion, as voiced by the Opposition in the House of Assembly, and expressed in many protests from the people of the city and the outports, has flayed them unmercifully and is compelling them to abandon one after another of the policies which they maintained and upheld during the past year. They have been driven to introduce a bill to repeal the Fish Export Act, forced to give notice of the removal of the Sugar Control, and compelled to promise the
Evening Chronicle, April, 1912
repeal of the War Measures Act, and to top it all have had to admit their inability to handle the critical situation which their mishandling of affairs has created to appeal to their opponents for help. Was there ever a more humiliating spectacle! — The Free Press, St. John’s, April 26, 1921
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Sir — I wonder if there is some recognition or a place in history for people who sleep too long. We are all familiar with the tales of Rip Van Winkle who slept for 20 years. Now it seems to me, Sir, that our local MHA has outdone Rip Van Winkle, for he has been asleep for the past 21 years. Our local radio station is doing a fine job of building up Alex Hickman since he joined the PCs. Maybe they could do the same thing for him. Of course, some sort of breathing device would have to be hooked up to him first. Yours very truly, Wide Awake. — Burin Peninsula Post, April 15, 1970 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The Street,” an adult treatment of a controversial subject, was topflight television this Tuesday night at ten. It covered the subject of prostitution with delicate understanding, and even with the limitations of television the subject came through with vivid and forceful impact. — The Newfoundland Weekly, April 26, 1957
APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTNEWS • 11
YOURVOICE ‘Danny is on an ego trip’ Dear editor, Will Danny Williams’ tactics defeat Harper the Heartless? Will Goliath be toppled with seven goose eggs to his noggin? Publicly shaming the big boss in a public forum in Gander where the prime minister was a guest, made great political theater but poor partners. Harper’s sabotaging a promise on equalization will never be in dispute. But volumes can be written on broken promises by politicians of all stripes. Every premier, from Joey to Danny, made commitments they could not keep, or had no intention of honouring. Several members of Williams’ caucus rode to victory on a commitment to revive rural areas. An impossible task, but a promise nevertheless. Come October, many MHAs will have to justify their four-year silence, their legislating NAPE back to work, and the raw material sharing crab policy that riled fishermen two summers ago. Danny’s boys and girls did not support crab fishers, and will have to defend their actions. Fabian Manning stood with the fishers, and was
Premier Danny Williams
rewarded with a boiled egg to the skull and a boot to the sidelines. Strange democracy. Williams is calling for a Conservative boycott in the federal election, and many have called for the resignations of Manning and Hearn. They should stand for re-election, and let the people judge. Is Williams establishing a policy for future federal contests whereby the premier will tell us how to vote based on our relationship with Ottawa?
‘Not going to put up with it’
Paul Daly/The Independent
Presently, Danny is on an ego trip, with massive support from the Rock. But many supporters are questioning the gun-to-thehead negotiating tactic, and wonder what ammunition will be fired when the goose eggs are gone. Blind faith, one-man rule, and an omelet never conquered the world. Just ask Brian Peckford.
Dear editor, Carol Brown of Toronto, whose letter to the editor, Newfoundland trip on hold, appeared in The Independent’s April 13 edition, obviously feels that Stephen Harper is incapable of taking care of his own interests, which grossly underestimates the prime minister, who rapidly retaliated with advertisments of his own. He gives as good as he gets. Danny Williams has never been publicly rude to anyone. I constantly marvel at his cool-headed, articulate stance, in the public and political arenas. However, he is the first person in living memory to go beyond political rhetoric (Brian Peckford), or grandstanding (Brian Tobin) in order to fight for the future of Newfoundland and Labrador. The people of this province are in a minority and as a result are constantly being
bullied and browbeaten by everyone from the federal government right down to Air Canada. Let it be clear — we are not going to put up with it anymore. It was Heather Mills McCartney who was rude and ill-informed. Indeed, so ill-informed that she thought she was in Newfoundland, when in fact she was in PEI. As to the reference to her being an amputee, shame on Brown. Being an amputee doesn’t give someone carte blanche to verbally abuse people. We love to welcome people from Toronto to our province. However, if their attitudes are as biased as Brown’s, then by all means stay at home. Brigid Kellett, St. John’s
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Time has come to talk nationhood Dear editor, Let’s talk nationhood, Newfoundland nationhood. I think it’s time. After all the “wrongs� of Confederation it’s time to take down the Canadian flag. We have to take a brave and united stand. The benefits of Canada don’t pay for our upper Churchill hydro, our fisheries, and now our oil revenues that are lost to Canada. Isn’t the recent federal budget enough to make us want to separate from Canada? We fight for $10 billion, we get promised $10 billion in writing. Now it’s $5.5 billion, but we’re still owed $4.5 billion. Isn’t this a dirty rotten trick? I cringe, I really do. You see our forefathers fought two great wars for Great Britain, and wars to save Canada from the U.S. invasions as well. This is the thanks we get, a public debt (that was paid prior to the Second World War) and being “pushed� into Confederation by the British. We deserve better.
Isn’t it sad many fellow Newfoundlanders don’t know their history? Newfoundland and Finland paid their debts prior to the Second World War. The rest, including Canada and Great Britain, defaulted. Yes that’s right. I don’t need an economist or politician to tell me the difference. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to study Newfoundland culture and history and I know I’m not alone. We have what it takes to become a nation — free from Britain and Canada. We have more people than Iceland but less than Ireland. While we still have more resources than many countries — let us not let Canada or some foreign country get them. The time has come my friends to talk nationhood. Let’s give more respect to the Pink, White and Green than we do now. A nation once again. Ron Durnford, Stephenville Crossing
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INDEPENDENTLIFE
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, APRIL 20-26, 2007 — PAGE 17
SUSAN RENDELL Screed and Coke “Her bullshit detector is set at FINE.”
I
— Bruce Bourque, former CBC Television producer
t’s a Sunday afternoon, and I’m standing in front of the elegant downtown building that houses Anne Budgell’s condo, pondering what a former colleague of hers said to me. “She doesn’t suffer fools gladly” is not a comforting thought right now. I’ve been trying to get the gate open for at least three minutes — the clock is ticking, and I figure Budgell isn’t a fan of tardy reporters. Just as I tell myself I’m going to have to climb the fence, I think to turn an ancient-looking ring hanging from the lock. The gate swings open, and an ornate main door lets me into the building without a whimper. I buzz my way into the foyer — except I manage not to open the door when Budgell hits the button. I push her buzzer again. No answer. I peer forlornly through the glass in the foyer door, imagining the grande dame of local broadcasting sitting somewhere above me with a frown on her face, thinking of fools and why she shouldn’t suffer them. But then a slight woman with a nimbus of silver hair appears in my line of sight, smiling as she strides to the door. “I thought you got stuck in the elevator,” she says, ushering me in. I look at the elevator: it wouldn’t be out of place in an Agatha Christie novel, and, yes, I probably would have gotten jammed in its leering braces. Stepping into Budgell’s apartment is not unlike near-death experiences I’ve read about — an ascent through a dark tunnel, sudden emergence into light. The walls are windows punctuated by plaster; white and ivory predominate. But it’s not a cold space: hardwood floors gleam under Persian-style rugs; pieces of eclectic art flower on the walls or sit on surfaces like exotic birds. The effect is a sophisticated eyrie, a refuge from the prowling, circling city below. I get a glimpse of the genesis of Budgell’s habitat when she describes her mother’s Northwest River residence. “My mother’s house is surrounded by enormous, tall — huge — spruce trees, and the view out across the water is of the Mealy Mountains. I can just sit there on the couch in her living room and just gaze and watch the light change. And I don’t care what time of year it is, it’s always, always beautiful.” An “air-force brat” born in Belleville, Ontario, Budgell grew up on bases across Canada. “That gave me a life-experience of living in different parts of the country … I feel like I am a Canadian. I don’t feel like I’m a Newfoundlander, even after living here for 30 years.” Perhaps she’s a Labradorian? Budgell’s roots are deep in the soil of Labrador. Her family tree spreads its boughs over the history of that place: hunters and trappers and Hudson’s
Anne Budgell at the CBC Radio studio on Duckworth Street, St. John’s.
Paul Daly/The Independent
Woman of Labrador, Anne of the island Anne Budgell reflects fondly on her CBC career, despite memories of male domination, ‘asshole’ management, and one particular trigger-happy producer Bay factors — Scots, English, Newfoundlanders and aboriginals. Two different cultures, I say — the Island and Labrador. She laughs, wryly. “Yeah … and that’s not much understood here in Newfoundland. If people have never been there, they don’t get it, I find. St. John’s is the centre of the known universe.” She rolls her laser-point blue eyes. Budgell came to the centre of the known universe in 1967 to pursue an arts degree (English) at Memorial.
After dropping out of university twice (she finally completed her B.A. at Harlow in 1995), she ended up at a private radio station in Wabush. In the fall of 1973, Budgell went to CBC radio in Goose Bay for a year. Next came a two-year stint as a reporter for CBC in St. John’s. In 1976, Budgell went to CBC Television’s supperhour news show, Here and Now, on contract. I hear you ran into a spot of trouble there, I say.
“I got fired.” She describes how in February of 1978, she found herself on a panel with Michael Harris and Bill Kelly, all set to interview thenpremier Frank Moores. “We decided we’d do a big interview with the premier. It was pre-recorded, and the producer (Bill Gough) was upstairs watching it. After … he came down and said, ‘That was fine.’ I sat talking with Frank Moores while he cleaned his make-up off … it was all very friendly.”
Budgell went to Toronto that weekend. When she came back, a letter from Gough was on her desk, “criticizing me for my conduct in that interview. Nothing that I did was edited out. I think there was some telephone reaction — half of the people who called in were happy with our interview, half said … ‘that Bill Kelly, there’s something wrong with See “I figured I’m,” page 19
Lights down, Belly Up
Artistic Fraud’s new one-man show a challenging and creative video virtuoso
R
By Mandy Cook The Independent
obert Chafe, one half of the awardwinning and internationally acclaimed Artistic Fraud, explains just how technically demanding his role in the theatre company’s new production has been. “It’s made my head feel like a computer,” he says. “We could only work so much at a time because it really feels like my RAM is full.”
Belly Up is the story of a blind man abandoned by his mother — his sole link to the outside world — who must then fend for himself and his pet goldfish. The man’s apartment, or, his entire known universe, is sparsely furnished with a table and fishbowl, a chair and window. Similar to Under Wraps or The Cheat before it, the production’s signature “trick” — as artistic director Jillian Keiley puts it — is pre-recorded DVD footage: Chafe’s entire performance is screened on the back wall of the theatre, like a giant mirror behind him, reflecting his live
actions on stage. Chafe has to then pace his performance to perfectly match the recording (his reflection). He is, effectively, working blind. Keiley says they could never pull off their latest show without the advent of recent technology. “The great technical advancement of our lives is DVDs. We used to use VCRs so we would do five seconds of material and bring it back and reset and Robert would do it
See “His fears,” page 20
Robert Chafe.
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APRIL 20, 2007
18 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
GALLERYPROFILE GORDON LAURIN
V
Visual Artist
isual artist Gordon Laurin, but now Toronto-born Newfoundland-based, doesn’t like his work to be easily defined — by style, interpretation or even the final physical product. Typically a visual artist working in the realm of the abstract, he says he likes to explore the line between the concrete and the intangible. “It creates an interesting point of meditation or observation,” says Laurin, from his downtown St. John’s communal studio. “I think sometimes when you do representational the point is to make it look as realistic as possible or to capture almost photographically what you see within the landscape, and while that’s valid, myself, I like to have a little more ambiguity about it.” Laurin’s new show opens at the RCA Visual Gallery at the LSPU Hall on April 22. It will be his first solo show in St. John’s, a place he says cultivates a supportive and collaborative arts scene in which he happily participates. During his time spent in the province he says he’s recognized the stimulating role the province’s striking landscape and geology has on many local artists. Not surprisingly, Laurin says he is one of those artists working at finding new ways to represent the source of inspiration shared by so many. “I wanted to experiment with taking elements of terrain or landscape and integrating those into these works … some people will see them as purely abstract but others might see them as a landscape you might observe from above like from a plane, a topographical feel. It’s subtle, not representative of a specific location, but taking elements of the organic world and using those as references.” The series of perfectly square masonite panels are first primed with a sealant, then layered with a mix of oil paint and powdered mica, then finished with resin. The panels range in colour — sandy gold, ochre red, leaf green. The veneer is rock hard, but has a luminous finish. The resin sheen appears to be almost liquid, inviting a hand to probe its surface. Unconcerned with identifiable mark-
ings or renderings, the grouping of squares have no real associative elements other than their concentration of individual colours and energetic properties. The few slubbings and variations — the hint of landscape Laurin mentions — serve to suggest depth and a deepening of colour. He says the non-defined form of the
work even allows for an individual interpretation of how they should be hung. The panels’ orientation — what’s up or down — is open to debate. The ambiguous nature of the work is all part of Laurin’s creative exercise. “The viewer completes the work,” he says. “I think the artists who leave it more open accept that it’s not really pos-
sible to control the way your work is interpreted. In accepting that, they almost allow that process to become part of the work more … putting the responsibility on the viewer. It’s a philosophy that gives respect to the viewer and their importance to the work.” One panel in particular stands out from the others, its swirling crimson reds rem-
iniscent of a galactic detonation. Laurin says the result of mixing the powder and the resin reminds him of a “chemical event.” It is, perhaps, a connective thread to the cosmic explosion billions of years ago that blessed us with our great — and endlessly inspirational – land. mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
The Gallery is a regular feature in The Independent. For information, or to submit proposals, please call (709) 726-4639, or e-mail editorial@theindependent.ca
POET’S CORNER Remembering
On the tarmac A Canadian soldier Tears running down His rugged face
Heart broken His Marine comrade Now lies inside A steel coffin Pallbearers In slow procession On their shoulders
Another victim Of an unwinnable war Friend, neighbour Viciously cut down His coffin Draped in Our Canadian flag At home Heart broken parents Angry friends A Taliban victory On foreign soil
His platoon fights on Angry Frustrated Determined Sad
Casualty of a Horrible war
More tears stream down His commander’s face A bugler’s last call A final salute
For a peacekeeper Fellow Newfoundlander
A political war George Bush’s’ war One he should have Never started Bill Westcott, Clarke’s Beach
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APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTLIFE • 19
Two Solitudes
In its 22nd year the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Awards show visits the west coast for the first time — and bridges a divide
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ctually there are many solitudes in this diverse country, but the two in particular to which the title of this column refers are the English and French communities of Montreal. The phrase was coined by Canadian novelist Hugh MacLennan in 1945 when he wrote his Governor General’s Awardwinning fiction about the two official founding nations. Today three Canadian authors (Atwood, Ondaatje, Munro) have been nominated for the prestigious (and lucrative) Man Booker Prize and no one doubts the quality of writing in this country. That’s today’s reality. In 1945 good literature was seriously undeveloped and finding a Canadian publisher for your fiction was even more difficult than getting a croissant in Toronto. MacLennan’s Two Solitudes was baggy, sentimental, and a lot of fun to read. More to the point, its impact was immediate. Readers were hungry to devour a rendering of the bi-cultural divide of Quebec, and the work dramatized what so many Canadians had already been living and thinking about the seemingly irresolvable tensions between French and English citizens. Since then, that divide — within Quebec at least — has almost disappeared, but the phrase itself has come to describe almost any set of cultural tensions in this country. Closer to home, we have, most loudly, the solitudes of Newfoundland and the rest of Canada; those of the east and west ends of John’s, townie and rural, east and west co asts; and, more specifically, the solitudes of St. John’s and Corner Book. The way human beings incline to set themselves up in opposition to each other you’d be tempted to think that creating divides was a
NOREEN GOLFMAN
Standing Room Only natural activity. To help bridge that abyss between the two coasts of the island, on May 5th the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council is moving its annual arts award gala to Corner Brook. The event was launched 22 years ago and has always generated an air of party-dress excitement about it. Suspense about who will be honored with an arts award always helps raise the temperature in the house. And a live-to-tape performance, the presence of the provincial who’s who, and the heat of the television lights make everyone a little giddier than usual. Year after year, and without question, the awards show has been staged at a theatre in St. John’s, reinforcing a townie sense of entitlement and undoubtedly maddening the crowds out there who have come to see St John’s as a foreign power, the way the rest of Canada sees Toronto, or Calgary sees Edmonton. Now, over two decades later, St. John’s is finally, wisely, yielding its domain mastery to another site, the city with the funky shoe store and popular watering holes, nestled scenically between the looming Long Range Mountains. To ensure the shift isn’t merely a token case of the art of politics, or the politics of art, it would be a good idea to establish a pattern of alternating sites from year to year. Once upon a time, skeptics doubted the Junos Awards show would ever be able to reach much beyond the 401,
Hamilton being a stretch, but today it is fully expected that the musical extravaganza will roam far from the public broadcast centre, including to St. John’s, as it so raucously did in 2002. The East Coast Music Awards would be unthinkable in the same maritime place year after year. And don’t get a Newfoundland filmmaker started on the self-determined permanence of the annual Halifax-hogging Atlantic Film Festival. To be fair, not to mention trite, geography keeps people apart — naturally. Someday, technology might help us all get over it. If only. I nurture a fantasy of a state-of-the-art rail connecting the two coasts. Imagine sliding onto a nice comfortable seat on a hi-speed (French made, of course) train in St John’s and zooming across the island — with a possible pit stop in Gander every now and then — in less than three hours. You could bring your skis, hiking boots, or shopping dollars without worrying once about encountering a moose, and you could do it all in an easy weekend. The trains already exist. Political will and a lot of private capital would need to follow. Flying is expensive, but getting more pleasant in Deer Lake all the time. Impossible hi-speed-train dreams aside, if you haven’t seen the renovated terminal on the west coast you’re in for a treat. Indeed, you’ll have a hard time remembering the dreary bus-station décor of its previous incarnation. The new building is gleaming and vaulted and boasts some of the finest public washrooms in the country, an important consideration when you spend a lot of time waiting for fog to lift, the winds to settle, and the PAL crews to rev their engines.
The enemy of a good relationship is more than geography, however. Solitudes build up their defences when they must consistently compete for tax dollars, and believe the rival city gets more than its fare share of the public treasury. The premier, whose riding is Humber West, is famously determined to redress a history of slights, perceived or real, and he has spent more time turning sod, cutting ribbons, making announcements, and promoting confidence on the west coast than any other provincial leader. It is timely but no coincidence that the arts awards show is moving to his riding: couldn’t hurt, as they say in the business. It will take more than an arts award to bring the two coasts closer together, but it’s a start.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Awards will be held at Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre May 5.
Noreen Golfman is a professor of literature and women’s studies at Memorial University. Her column returns May 4.
‘I figure I’m one of the luckiest people’ From page 17
him,’ and ‘that Mike Harris, he should go back to the mainland,’ and ‘that Anne Budgell, I can’t stand her.’ I think somebody gave him (Gough) grief for us giving the premier grief.” Maybe the premier? “No way, he was happy as could be — it wasn’t Frank Moores. “I challenged Gough … and he fired me in a fit of anger. I got one month’s severance pay and then I was out on my ass. If he had been a sensible man, he would have called me the next day and said, ‘Anne, I blew up, that was stupid, let’s fix this.’ But by then there was already a shit storm: people were talking about it on Open Line, Ray Guy wrote a column about it.” Gough delegated Michael Harris to talk to Budgell. “If I could get everybody to cool their jets … he (Gough) would write me a letter of recommendation. I said, ‘You know, it’s better to be fired by some people than it is to have a letter of recommendation.’ I’ve never forgiven him for that, the shagger.” The contretemps with Gough wasn’t Budgell’s only problem in the early days. “When I went to work at television first, I was the only female in the newsroom. And there were far fewer women in business and in politics and in labour. Now it’s a whole different set-up. There are so many women working over there (CBC) now that young women who come in never have a moment’s discomfort. But then there were all these technicians, 100 per cent male — producers, 99 per cent male. You had to have a hard shell. There was always this edge —‘You don’t quite fit.’” But Gough was no match for Budgell, who went on to host the Fisheries Broadcast from 1980-85, Here and Now from 85-88, and On Camera from 88-91. In 1991, she took her considerable skills to Radio Noon. “I’d put our Radio Noon show against any Radio Noon show in Canada. Paula (Gale, Budgell’s associate producer) and I are like Tasmanian devils. There’s two of us, and we
fill two hours a day. In Nova Scotia … there are six or seven people working on that show. It’s one of the reasons that I’m leaving. It’s a hard grind … I feel like I have finally gotten to the point where I’m doing it well, and I’m really comfortable doing it. It’s too bad that happens just at the point that you’re saying, ‘Well, I’ve had about enough now.’” Several years ago, Budgell told the Telegram her goal was “to outlive the assholes.” So how’s that going? (I fear for the window panes when she laughs.) “That’s my motto. I’ve got it on a T-shirt. Assholes … they’re like dust mites, there’s millions of them. When I said that, I was thinking of some of the higher levels of the CBC management … the Rabinovitches and the Stursbergers … I don’t think they even like public broadcasting.” But people do, don’t they? “Yeah. Here in Newfoundland and Labrador they certainly do. We’re a small enough population to care about what happens to each other. I mean, if there’s a flood in Badger, we care about that. If there’s a house fire in Sheshatshiu, we care about that. And the reason we know that these things happen is because of radio first.” So what’s up next? Budgell tells me she’s working on a book. And then she says, “I’ll tell you one thing, I’m not going into the private sector and I’m not going into politics. A lot of people who’ve been in broadcasting get lured into politics. “You know what? I figure I’m one of the luckiest people, truly. I don’t know if I did all the things I wanted to do at the CBC, but I really enjoyed the things I did. And I’m enjoying them still. I feel like it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to be creative and put a show on for two hours a day and have people listen.” Sure you wouldn’t reconsider the political thing, I say — just long enough to get rid of Andy Wells? Budgell slips on a banana peal of laughter; a few minutes later I hug its memory as I face into a northeast wind on Duckworth.
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APRIL 20, 2007
20 • INDEPENDENTLIFE
Thriller Perfect Stranger leaves audience sleepy; Sharkwater fails to deliver bite TIM CONWAY Film Score Perfect Stranger Starring Halle Berry, Giovanni Ribisi, and Bruce Willis 1/2 (out of four) 109 min.
I
nvestigative reporter Rowena Price (Halle Berry) has a knack for uncovering the facts in difficult news stories. Fearlessly treading where few dare to go, assisted by her technosavvy associate, Miles Hailey (Giovanni Ribisi), she manages to thread her way through obstacles to arrive at the heart of an issue, exposing corruption and injustice. Almost a minor superhero, complete with alterego and sidekick, one wouldn’t be surprised to discover a series of comic books, or a television show dedicated to the intrepid Price. She doesn’t get much opportunity to bask in this kind of light, however, for her latest journalistic triumph is killed before it hits the page. Foiled by the
forces of power and influence, and unsupported by her employer, Price calls it quits. Of course, she doesn’t get the chance to update her resumé and flip open the classifieds. A childhood friend, Grace, approaches her about publicly exposing the bad behaviour of a former lover (a powerful businessman played by Bruce Willis), and shortly after, Price finds herself at the morgue, identifying Grace’s remains. Suddenly, Price’s back in the game. Apparently convinced her friend’s ex is at the bottom of Grace’s demise, she infiltrates his advertising company to search for evidence. In addition, with Miles’ assistance, she tries to engage her suspect through his favourite online chat service, courting danger from every direction. We’re somewhat safer, though. As the story plays out, there’s a “boo” or two; Price has several haunting nightmares, and the occasional dose of sleaze intrudes to jump start one’s fading heartbeat, but otherwise, adrenal glands receive a welcomed rest from the fast pace of modern life — although the viewer’s pulse rate hangs dangerously close to the number of dollars spent for
admission. To give Ms. Berry and company the benefit of the doubt, perhaps the screenplay for Perfect Stranger read better than it filmed. Under the direction of James Foley (Glengarry Glen Ross), who seems to have peaked ten years ago with Fear, the cast members perform competently, and the cinematographer provides plenty of visual appeal, as do those involved with sets and costumes. Still, there’s not a moment of tension leading to any kind of suspense. Worse still, the hardest work seems shared by the editor and screenwriter, who appear to be completely overwhelmed with the task of trying to pass off misdirection as twists and turns in the plot. In a more exciting film, we’d feel jerked around, but in this case, it’s more like we’re uncomfortably nudged about. Sharkwater Documentary 89 min. (out of four)
Rob Stewart’s personal look at sharks has been winning hearts all over, and has managed to pick up a few awards at
American film festivals since winning the Audience Award at last year’s Atlantic Film Festival. Capitalizing on his own youthful good looks and enthusiasm, almost to a fault, he presents sharks in a much different light from what we’re accustomed to, especially in the three decades since Mr. Spielberg’s take on the ocean predator. A self-proclaimed lifelong fan of sharks, Stewart introduces us to an illegal fishing incident off the Galapagos Islands that helped turn his attention towards industries and practices that are jeopardizing the species globally. Apparently, shark numbers are dwindling rapidly, and despite their vital role in ocean ecosystems, their plight is largely ignored. While some governments have begun to recognize that there is a problem, some are unable to enforce conservation measures, while various degrees of corruption have invaded others. Efforts to move the issue into a more public forum are hampered by the image of sharks cultivated by Hollywood and elements of the news media, thirsty for sensationalism. In his quest for information and action, Stewart hooks up with Paul
Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, supposedly invited by the Costa Rican government to help impede illegal fishing. While Watson makes a few valuable points on the matter, his vigilante approach to the situation is questionable, and when he eventually abandons Stewart, he’s never taken to task for it. From a technical perspective, Sharkwater is a well-made motion picture, featuring everything from crisp underwater photography, to grainy hidden camera footage, tightly edited together into a compelling story. At the same time, it’s not difficult to question his handling of certain aspects of the film. During a couple of scenes where he’s swimming with sharks, and at one point, even caressing one in his arms, it’s difficult to not think about Grizzly Man’s Timothy Treadwell, especially when he’s pushing the notion of sharks as our friends. Although he sometimes presents numbers and facts, he’s just as often prone to generalizing the issue, when specific information would be more appropriate. Finally, he and his activities form a significant part of the film, digressing momentarily from the subject. It’s easy enough to forgive any perceived shortcomings, owing to Stewart’s youthful passion, and in some sense, desperation. It’s a little harder, however, to accept he’s probably smarter than that, and these aren’t deficiencies at all. For decades now we’ve seen, whether it’s seals or big dogs, all of the assurances and figures from experts are ineffective when faced with emotions fuelled by misinformation. In an ideal world, Stewart would lay out the facts and we’d jump on the problem right away. Unfortunately, he wants quick action, and since sharks aren’t cute, his only recourse is to try and convince us that they’re our buddies. Tim Conway operates Capitol Video in Rawlins Cross, St. John’s. His column returns May 4.
‘His fears are manifested’ From page 17
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again. We wore out a bunch of tapes.” Chafe and Keiley have spent the past 17 weeks in intensive rehearsals to nail the execution. With Belly Up, the creative duo, known for their elaborate and highly choreographed productions based on maps, grids and musical cues, are attempting to push Chafe’s personal performance “to the max.” The show hinges on the creative possibilities of Chafe’s reflected actions, but is rooted in his character’s very real vulnerabilities. “When he starts panicking he starts imagining things, hearing things in the room like we all do in a spooky house,” says Chafe. “When he imagines it, it actually appears in the mirror, so he hears a creak in the floor and he actually thinks someone is behind him … you actually see that person in the mirror. His fears are manifested.”
CHILD-LIKE PERSONALITY Although the play centres on exploring how his character has become an anxiety-stricken recluse, Chafe says there is humour to be found in the piece. His character may be in his 30s, but his limited life experience has produced an innocent, child-like personality — so much so, he believes his goldfish didn’t come from a pet store, but from the sea. The creature provides yet another layer of metaphor to the subject matter. “I wanted the pet to be something that was an exact mirror of him — (it’s in) a fishbowl, containing nothing but its own walls as its world, knowing that world perfectly … naïve about anything outside of it,” says Chafe. The fishbowl also provides a visual reminder of the character’s blindness. He moves freely about his apartment “with authority” but there are subtle moments, such as when he measures out fish food by sprinkling it into his hand, daunted by the prospect of being responsible for the creature’s life, that convince the audience of his disability. Both Chafe and Keiley credit local composer Lori Clarke as a second director for the show; her work is Chafe’s aural map. Clarke’s musical score, consisting of electronic voice samples from Shelley Neville and piano themes from Petrina Bromley, guides him with counting cues throughout the entire production. They liken the process to choreography, so much so Chafe recently rehearsed the show without text, gesturing and miming to the music, mesmerizing his director. “It was really beautiful,” says Keiley. “Thank god it’s only one person — it’s so challenging to get it right, and I think we did.” mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, APRIL 20-26, 2007 — PAGE 13
Economic hangover
Irish growth slowing says think-tank; local expert says Irish model still good for province
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By Ivan Morgan The Independent
n Irish economic think-tank is predicting the end of the country’s phenomenal economic growth — known as the Celtic tiger. However, the chair of Irish business studies at Memorial University says Ireland is still a good economic model for the province to follow. Ireland’s Economic and Social Research Institute says the Irish Gross Domestic Product will drop below four per cent for the first time in 15 years. David Stewart, chair of Irish business studies, says this slowing of growth can be attributed to a number of factors, including the end of equalizationtype payments Ireland received from the European Union until 2004. “I don’t think there’s any need for Newfoundland to be worried about what is going on in Ireland,” Stewart tells The Independent. Stewart says Ireland’s loss of EU support payments, the addition of 10 new countries to the EU — some of which have modeled their economy on the Irish model — and a more expensive labour force have all contributed to the economic slowdown. Marc Coleman, economics editor of the Irish Times, says although the economy is slowing, it is not a cause for concern. He says the average growth in the Euro Zone (countries that use the Euro) is 2.5 per cent. “So we are going from a performance that is phenomenal to a situation that is still good, but not phenomenal anymore,” says Coleman. “Most countries in the Euro Zone would give their left arm to have growth rates of three per cent.” Coleman says that does not invalidate the success of the Irish economic model. He says the slowdown had to happen, as no economy can grow at such high rates forever. “It’s like children growing. If your 21-year-old son keeps growing to seven foot, then eight foot you’d want to be worried about it,” laughs Coleman. Stewart says Ireland has already started a plan to “reposition” its economy based on its new circumstances. The government is encouraging investment in research and development, and innovation with a focus on biotechnology and information technology. He says the old forms of investment that “stoked the fire of the Irish economy” need to look to the newer EU countries like Poland and the Czech Republic, which have been luring lower technology industry away from Ireland. “I think we can learn from what’s going on there at the moment,” says Stewart. “I think what’s important for us is to maybe not follow the same directions as Ireland — but look at the process they are using to change.” “I think they are a nice case study in terms of reorienting their economy.” Coleman says this economic cooling is not a cause for worry. He says there is “lots wrong” with the Irish economy, but growth slowing to three per cent is not one of them. “The fact is we lost the run of ourselves in the past couple of years. House prices and wages just increased by slightly too much. And that needs to correct,” he says. As an example, Coleman says housing prices See “It’s just not,” page 14
The champagne set enjoying what might be the last of the Celtic Tiger good times, at the Budweiser Irish Derby at the Curragh Racecourse. The Derby is the major race of the Irish flat horse racing season. Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland
T
Time to deal with taxes The plan to entice residents to stay in Newfoundland and Labrador and encourage expatriates and others to live, work and raise families here, clearly should include a look at our comparative tax disadvantage.
axes are a significant burden on Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and an impediment to the province’s economic growth — and it’s high time we did something about it. In a matter of days, the provincial government will present Budget 2007, another opportunity to tackle our uncompetitive tax regime. Lower taxes provide greater disposable income for individuals and families, improve the ability of our businesses to attract and retain qualified labour, and ensure a higher standard of living for our residents. Our marginal personal income tax rates, for example, are high by national
CATHYBENNETT
Board of Trade
standards. Relief in this area would offer Newfoundlanders and Labradorians greater incentive to work, save and invest here, thereby contributing to economic activity and benefiting families by increasing their spending power and standard of living. Newfoundland and Labrador faces significant competitive pressures from outside the province as other jurisdictions introduce tax reduction strategies.
If we choose to ignore this, then Alberta’s 10 per cent single-rate system and other provinces’ tax reduction initiatives will only further impair Newfoundland and Labrador’s ability to attract and retain skilled workers and investment. The plan to entice residents to stay in Newfoundland and Labrador and encourage expatriates and others to live, work and raise families here, clearly should include a look at our comparative tax disadvantage. So should our strategy for inward attraction of business and investment, which the provincial Department of Business is charged with devising and executing. Our province’s ability on
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that front is undermined by a decidedly unattractive tax regime. We want to encourage entrepreneurship and the growth of our indigenous small and medium-sized businesses; but high personal income taxes and other burdensome taxes deter investment in these enterprises — and the creation of jobs. The Department of Business continues to roll out the province’s new brand, designed to make this place stand out as a preferred destination for people, business and capital. If we’re going to present an attractive label, then we had better be ready to deliver the goods as advertised. Our policies — tax See “No relief,” page 14
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APRIL 20, 2007
Finding the energy Uranium exploration booming in Labrador
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By John Rieti The Independent
lthough still in the advanced exploration stage, uranium mining has a glowing future in Newfoundland and Labrador. Several companies are scouring Labrador’s central mineral belt for traces of the slightly radioactive, silvery metallic substance that can be refined into a massive energy source. Canada is the largest producer of uranium in the world, yet nuclear power accounts for only 16 per cent of the country’s energy use. Jim Lincoln, vice
president of operations for Aurora Energy Resources predicts it will be more popular in the future. “Many parts of the world are seeing nuclear power as an alternative to carbon-based energy … there’s a lot of new nuclear plants being planned and permitted,” he tells The Independent. According to the Aurora website the Michelin deposit in Labrador has enough uranium to power over one million homes for 150 years. Aurora was formed in 2005 and became a publicly traded company in 2006. Newfoundland and Labradorbased, it was created to merge the
GRIN AND BEER IT
efforts of another local business, Altius Minerals, and Vancouver, B.C.-based Fronteer Development Group. Local shareholders have bought into the nuclear concept, and comprise 25 per cent of Aurora’s ownership. With an exploration budget of $20 million for 2007, the company aims to add to the 96 million pounds of uranium it has found in two deposits. In 2006 the company hired 32 people from the Labrador coast to search for uranium, and it hopes to hire more this year. Aurora also hires geology students from Atlantic Canadian universities.
Lincoln says the company will hire within the province and provide training if opening a mine is feasible. Due to the complex engineering and environmental work required, however, a mine won’t be operational until 2013 at the earliest. He estimates a mine would be the same size as the Voisey’s Bay facility, although the nickel that’s produced is five to 10 times the price of uranium. Currently nickel sells for $50,100 per ton. Due to its extremely hazardous potential, uranium is not a publicly sold commodity. When it emerges from the mines in a form called “yellow cake,” it
gets sold directly to one of few utility companies that have the capability to enrich it into nuclear fuel. “Anything nuclear in Canada comes under the authority of the Canadian Nuclear Power Commission … this is a very strict organization, anything to do with uranium mining, transport, or processing is well regulated,” says Lincoln. Aurora is currently compiling environmental data and conducting a feasibility study to determine its future plans. john.rieti@theindependent.ca
Bill Scollard (left), Labatt’s customer marketing manager, and Nigel Beattie, president and CEO of Mary Brown’s, announced a new promotion this week in St. John’s. Starting April 30th, all specially marked 12-packs of Labatt Lite will include a coupon for a free Big Mary chicken sandwich redeemable at Mary’s Brown’s locations across Newfoundland and Labrador. Paul Daly/The Independent
‘It’s just not sensible’ From page 13
have been going up at 25 per cent a year. He says housing prices will see a “correction. “It’s just not sensible.” He compares what the Irish are about to experience to the day after a good party. “You wake up the next morning and for a couple of hours you’re going to feel pretty crappy,” Coleman says. “It needs to happen, you have to get over it and eventually you’ll recover.” He says Canadian investors should heed the direction the Irish economy is headed.
Pharmaceuticals, says Coleman, are big to invest in, but low-tech investments like “computer assembly plants and other low-level stuff — not so much.” His overall assessment of the impact of this economic cooling is cautiously optimistic. He says there will be “corrections” to wage rates and property values, but overall the economy will remain strong. “It’s like one of those situations where your plane lands at the airport and it’s a little bit bumpy and scary but you’re going to land on the ground in one piece. You’re not going to crash. Nobody’s going to die.”
‘No relief in sight’ From page 13
POWER ENGINEERS 3RD CLASS POWER ENGINEERS 4TH CLASS (Temporary – “As Needed – When Needed”) To establish an eligibility list for temporary employment on an “as needed – when needed” basis for shift relief purposes and facility support, with the Department of Transportation and Works located in Avalon Region (Works), St. John’s. DUTIES: On an “as needed – when needed” basis for shift relief purposes and facility support, participates in the supervision, operation, repair and adjustment of the high pressure process steam/heating plant located at Building 904-Pleaseantville, and other buildings as may be assigned; inspects boilers, mechanical and electrical equipment for proper operation; makes necessary repairs to the heating system and auxiliary equipment; & related duties. Successful candidates will participate in a 24/7 shift schedule, including holidays and weekends. QUALIFICATIONS: Considerable experience in power engineering and in the operation and maintenance of a high pressure process steam/heating plant facility, and related equipment; possession of a valid 3rd or 4th Class Power Engineering Certificate recognized by the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Availability – candidates must be available “as needed – when needed”, sometimes with short notice. SALARY:
MS-24 ($16.23 - $17.88) 4th class MS-26 ($17.44 - $19.28) 3rd class
COMPETITION NO.:
R5A/PE/STJ/07/08-017
CLOSING DATE:
May 4, 2007
INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS: Applications should be forwarded to: Mail:
Mr. Dan Howard Regional Administrator (Avalon Works) Department of Transportation and Works Ground Floor, West Block, Confederation Bldg. P.O. Box 8700, St. John’s, NL A1B 4J6
Fax:
(709)729-0036
E-Mail:
howardd@gov.nl.ca
policies included — must be smart and encourage people to live and work here and businesses to locate and grow here. We need to get serious about ridding ourselves of an anti-growth tax regime and the stigma that goes along with it, the perception that our tax burden is prohibitive to growth and investment. In order to have the flexibility, long-term, to provide tax relief, government must stay on a fiscally sustainable path. For one, we have to keep in clear view the need to sustain the effort to reduce the provincial debt over time, lowering annual debt-servicing costs and improving government’s borrowing ability. Most would agree, for example, that addressing the public service pension fund, which was nearing bankruptcy, was a fiscally responsible action to take. This unfunded liability is part of the massive debt owned by all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. It isn’t going away all on its own. The government’s fiscal austerity over the past few years has contributed to several credit rating upgrades, which has in turn put the province in a better position to borrow money to put toward that liability, which not only helps stabilize the pension fund, but also frees up $27 million in annual interest savings. These types of measures, however, will be for naught if we creep back into a habit of untargeted, unsustainable public spending. Budget 2006 promised program spending in the range of eight per cent higher than the previous year. In comparison, the annual rate of inflation for goods and services rose between 2005 and 2006 by only a quarter of that spending pace. The urge to expand the spending envelope is always more prevalent in an election year, but this government has prided itself on compiling a commendable record of fiscal discipline, and we’re seeing the results. Now it’s time to turn to taxation. Not deep and wide tax cuts overnight. We can’t afford it. We still have that $11 billion debt to pay down. We don’t want a return to annual deficits and we need to be able to invest wisely and consistently in important public
infrastructure and services. But it would be a mistake to turn a blind eye to our tax burden and the negative impact it has on our economic future. The Board of Trade has flagged a few areas of our provincial tax regime in which we are clearly uncompetitive, relative to other parts of Canada. These include the payroll tax (which is a tax on job creation) and the 15 per cent sales tax Newfoundlanders and Labradorians pay on insurance premiums. Our top priority for reform, however, should perhaps be personal income taxes, because Newfoundland and Labrador is distinctly uncompetitive compared to other provinces. The Board of Trade has recommended bringing Newfoundland and Labrador’s marginal rates more in line with other provinces and indexing tax brackets to inflation, which would mitigate the punitive effect of taxpayers having to pay more income tax simply because their incomes keep up with inflation. From 1999 to 2005, per capita personal income in the province rose by almost 30 per cent. With fixed brackets, inflation results in us paying more tax. However, the most important step for government to take now is to put a provincial tax competitiveness plan in place. It should be a multi-year plan that gives government revenue flexibility over time and allows us to respond to other provinces’ tax reduction initiatives. Without such a plan, we stay shackled to our heavy tax burden with no relief in sight. The plan could involve earmarking a certain proportion of annual budget surpluses to go toward lowering taxes. Or, annual interest savings realized from paying down portions of the provincial debt could be reallocated to tax reductions. A long-term plan would allow the government to maintain flexibility in collecting provincial-source tax revenues, while moving forward with a strategy for enhancing tax competitiveness in Newfoundland and Labrador over time. The alternative is to do nothing and fall further behind the rest of the country. Cathy Bennett is the president of the St. John’s Board of Trade.
APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTBUSINESS • 15
‘They’ve got off pretty cheap’ Grand Falls paper mill to remain open; towns take concessions
M
By Mandy Cook The Independent
ill workers employed by Abitibi-Consolidated’s pulp and paper mill in Grand Falls-Windsor say they have found the $10 million in savings the Quebec-based company was looking for to keep the operation up and running. Ron Smith, spokesperson for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers’ union, says 50 days of negotiations resulted in a cut in operating costs and a personnel “miracle. “We didn’t change any benefit plans, we didn’t change any of the pay scales and we didn’t lose one regular full-time position,” he tells The Independent. In early 2007, Abitibi announced the company would have to find $10 million in savings or the mill might close. Newsprint sales have been down in recent years as a result of declining newspaper sales, foreign competition and oversupply. Abitibi will pick up the $3-million tab for an improved electrical system on one of the mill’s paper machines. The new system will boost paper production by 10 per cent. Summer students will also be hired to cut down on overtime costs. Abitibi also asked local town councils to take a cut in grants in lieu of taxes. Although the union is satisfied with the outcome of the deal, Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Rex Barnes isn’t. Abitibi is exempt from taxes and pays towns an operating grant instead. Barnes says the company is forcing a significant cash flow crunch on the town. “Right now Abitibi gives us $805,000. This year basically they came to us, they didn’t ask, they just told us they’re reducing us by 40 per cent, and this is a three-year thing,” he says. For 2007, the town will receive $480,000 from the company, Barnes says. Town councils of Bishop’s Falls and Botwood will also receive 40 per cent less from Abitibi in grants this year. Barnes says the company should have to pay taxes like other businesses, calling the exemption “obsolete. “The A and D Company of 1902-1906 (the original founding pulp and paper company) is no longer the company of today. Times have changed. The A and D Company built this town from the beginning and they put a lot of money into the community, but they’re not doing it today.” Abitibi employs 450 people in the mill, with 270 woodcutters from 50 different communities providing wood. The mill produced 540 tons of newsprint per day in 2006 and is currently producing 600 tons per day.
YOURVOICE See any Newfoundland wolves around lately?
Dear editor, I may not know too much about hunting, and to be honest I don’t condone it much either, but that’s neither here nor there. I am writing because I am absolutely appalled by the front-page article I read in The Independent regarding the hunting of coyotes (Coyote ugly, Province local author promote killing wild dogs on sight; no bag limit, April 13 edition). I apologize now if I offend anyone, as I am sure this is a touchy subject. I would like to know what is being done with the bodies of these poor creatures. I am certain they are not a food source. I hope that they are not just being killed so that some welloff individual can flaunt their affluence by donning the hide of some unfortunate animal. I also don’t consider luring animals by tricking them with the promise of dinner is hunting. With regards to there not being a bag limit, what
Dear editor, With respect to Labour Minister Shawn Skinner implementing a new immigration strategy, I understand the strategy, as explained by Skinner, would be a form of discrimination against immigrants. He is proposing screening the immigrants by education, skills and financial success (wealth). Isn’t that similar to the province of Alberta stripping (draining) our skilled and educated residents to move west that the local government has become so concerned with? Why would these immigrants stay if we can’t get the Newfoundlanders to stay, it would be just another way to enter the country. Skinner will pick and choose which immigrants the province is willing to accept and the province is willing to educate these immigrants and watch these people move on at tremendous cost to the province. However, the same government is unable to reduce the tuition or create employment for our own young population. Boyd Legge, Mount Pearl
BLUE RIBBON IS BACK.
mandy.cook@theindependent.ca
A call centre in your living room
149
Your Choice
F
By Pam Pardy Ghent For The Independent
or an increasing number of call centre employees, getting their butts to work is as easy as rolling out of bed. Thanks to a new program, ICT Group in St. John’s is allowing certain workers to set up and work from their own homes. It’s proving a popular option for potential employees — particularly those in rural areas of the province. While the company, citing competitive reasons, won’t say how many employees take advantage of the home-based agent option, a spokesperson confirms at least one employee works from her house in Placentia. The spokesperson says being 128 kilometres from the office doesn’t negatively impact service levels. ICT Group — with 13 operation centres in Canada, including Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada — introduced the home option in its St. John’s location last year to help meet an increased demand for service. The centre opened in 2003 and currently employs over 600. Gene Schaedel, ICT’s home-based agent representative, says the program is helping the company meet staffing needs, by opening the door to potential recruits who may have special needs or preferences. It can increase efficiency too, as some of the usual hindrances of getting to work on time — like traffic and severe weather conditions — are no longer issues. “The St. John’s facility provided an excellent location to formally launch the home-based agent program, due to the interest expressed by our current employees and excellent response to … career opportunities postings,” Schaedel says. Jane McIvor, ICT’s vice president of operations in St. John’s, says having agents work from home is not a new idea. “The concept was originally established in response to the increased demand for alternative, cost-effective, highquality customer care support services,” she says. The company says set-up costs for the program are comparable to those for a traditional call centre. To qualify, employees must be able to work independently. They must have access to a computer that meets minimum requirements, a hard-wired telephone line dedicated to ICT Group business, and a second phone line available for coaching, counselling, meetings and emergencies. The company has no requirements in terms of where their home-based agents live. “Whether an individual is working on site at our St. John’s facility or at home, their performance is closely monitored to ensure that they are effectively carrying out their job,” McIvor says. There has been considerable interest in the program, says McIvor, and she’s not surprised, given the geography and economic situation in Newfoundland. Rural areas have been especially enthusiastic. “(The program) provides us with an expanded pool of qualified potential employees,” she says. “As well, it offers an improved quality of life for employees who no longer need to travel great distances and incur high commuting expenses, traveling to and from their job.” ICT’s St. John’s call centre provides in-bound customer care support services to clients in the financial services and telecommunication industries.
the hell? It’s total bull to say that furbearing animals reproduce too quickly to be killed off. Does anyone remember the Newfoundland wolf? See any of those around lately? If you’re going to go around murdering things at least have the decency to take precautions not to wipe them out completely. Soon you’ll be complaining that they’re all gone and no one knows where they went. Seriously, think about it, hundreds, if not thousands of animals are either on the brink or extinct, mostly because humans are too greedy and too stupid to think about the consequences of their actions. Yes, I’m a tree hugger and yes I’m a bit of a neo-hippie. No, I don’t think people should stop hunting if that is their livelihood … if they live off the hunt. I do think you should not kill just for the hell of it, for something to do on the weekend. It’s sick and barbaric. Elizabeth Power, St. John’s
Does immigration strategy amount to discrimination?
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INDEPENDENTSPORTS
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2007 — PAGE 29
Paul Daly/’The Independent
Runner Kate Vaughan at the Field House track at Memorial University in St. John’s.
K
By John Rieti The Independent
ate Vaughan’s mind is miles away during her workouts these days, her thoughts running from Memorial University’s indoor track in St. John’s, to the dusty and sparse landscape of Africa. Vaughan, a MUN graduate and one of the top runners on the Sea-Hawks crosscountry team, is scheduled to travel to Tanzania, Africa on April 22 for three months to volunteer in an orphanage. She spent last summer training for her fourth season of competitive running. That dedication paid off with several top five finishes in Atlantic competitions, and she improved her five-kilometre race by almost three minutes to a swift 18:57.40. Her season was capped with a trip to the national university championships, where she finished 32nd. On the daily runs she has planned for her free time in Africa, Vaughan will breathe the same air that has produced some of the best athletes in the world. Kenya, a country that dominates the podiums of major marathons, is on Tanzania’s northern border. The country’s high elevation above sea level, and perfect morning and evening tempera-
Miles away Runner Kate Vaughan expects life-changing experience in Africa
tures, make for ideal distance training conditions. “(Running) is what they do … they don’t have hockey, they don’t have organized sports, people have to run,” Vaughan tells The Independent. Although she didn’t base her decision to go to Africa on her sport, she laughs at
the thought it might pay off. She plans to run the Tely10 days after her return home. Whether her fitness improves on the trip or not, Vaughan already knows it will be a life-changing experience. She will be caring for children from two months to four years of age who
have been orphaned in a country ravaged by AIDS. Although Vaughan has experience with children, and is hoping to get into the education program at Memorial next year, she knows there are going to be disheartening times on the trip. She will use her love of running and sport to play with the children, and as a method to cope with the sadness of the situation. “If you’re feeling stressed, or crooked, or tired, you go for a run and come back and you feel better … but it’s going to be hard, really emotional.” Vaughan will stay with an African family, an arrangement that will expose her to every aspect of life in Tanzania. Vaughan, who just completed a biochemistry degree specializing in nutrition, suspects the African diet may take some getting used to. She also anticipates her experience will stay with her long after her return. “When I run, a lot of stuff goes through my mind that’s not about running, even when I’m running hard and racing … I almost pull myself away.” She hopes to always keep Africa in her mind, then maybe running in St. John’s won’t feel so hard. john.rieti@theindependent.ca
Senior hockey’s great prize S
ometimes we in the media focus way too much on hockey. There are many sporting endeavours taking place in this province month after month, yet it seems hockey is the one that captures the most attention. But that’s only in the summer. In the winter, the sport is deserving of every bit of ink it receives. Despite the calendar reading late April, this week stands to be a huge one for the ice sport. First off, the senior hockey prize will be awarded sometime this weekend. The Herder Memorial Trophy will be presented to either the Conception Bay North CeeBee Stars or the Deer Lake Red Wings in Corner Brook’s Pepsi Centre by Sunday. Last weekend in St. John’s, these teams played three games in less than 72 hours — an arduous task if you’re
DON POWER
Power Point
playing rec hockey, let alone a contact game — with the CeeBees winning twice. That leaves the defending Herder champs one win away from repeating. The hockey was definitely sloppy at times — but with the amount of hockey, that was expected. More often than not, it was a very exciting weekend. (As an aside, how about Steve Cleary’s return to the competitive senior circuit? Of course, at his age, Cleary is now a senior for sure … but he certainly can play the game. His first this season was Game 1 in Corner Brook, where he was eased into the lineup. By
Game 5, he was his old self — sorry about the age references — and looking more like a spry 35-year-old than a 37year-old. His savvy could make the difference in a tight game this weekend.) And while Mile One Centre was full for each game last weekend (and Rogers Television showed each game — kudos for a job well done, Paddy, by the way), the biggest news to come out of the arena was the size of the 50/50 draw. For the three games, almost $25,000 was given away, which means that same amount was deposited into the coffers of the Avalon East league. That’s great news for the league. It’s even greater news for the three winners. They went home with $7,000, $8,000 and $9,000 from each game. Another question being asked last weekend was: when would we see
provincial senior hockey again? The answer: not any time soon. While a provincial senior league is the ideal scenario, look for inter-locking hockey next year between the Avalon East and the West Coast leagues. Meanwhile, while all hockey eyes will be on the Herder battle this weekend, junior hockey will also crown its provincial championship. Of all the times for a tournament in Corner Brook, this weekend is not the time for junior hockey. The Veitch Memorial Trophy will be awarded this weekend, but while the four teams battling — Bell Island, Mount Pearl, Grand Falls and Corner Brook — will have a keen interest in the outcome, the majority of hockey fans will have their eyes and hearts elsewhere in the west coast city. Not to be outdone, the St. John’s Major Midget Maple Leafs are in Red
Deer, Alta. next week for the national midget championship, the Telus Cup. This tournament is heavily scouted — it’s probably where Ted Purcell had his coming-out party for these same Leafs about four or five years ago — and it’s a great opportunity for many of the current Leafs to showcase their abilities and improve their stock. It’s also a great chance for the club to improve on their fifth place finish last year when they played in the tournament in Charlottetown. One thing is certain: the club shouldn’t be nervous. Head coach Rick Babstock has taken a number of teams to this tournament, so anxiety shouldn’t be an issue. Whether the team can return home with any hardware remains to be seen. But it sure will be fun watching. donniep@nl.rogers.com
30 • INDEPENDENTSPORTS
APRIL 20, 2007
Waiting for the trout to come out Even die-hard sea trouters might want to stay indoors this spring
F
or the majority of Canadians, thoughts of springtime might conjure images of gentle breezes, flowers blooming, grass greening, and warm sunshine. For us enduring and rugged Newfoundlanders, this particular spring has been late coming and bitterly cold. Although we’ve had a few decent days where the daytime mercury has hovered above freezing, there hasn’t been much basking in the sun. The hardcore among us have managed to sneak in a barbeque here and there, but opportunities are fleeting. As I write, an ominous easterly wind howls; eager to chill the bones of any brave soul who dares step outside. Some ponds remain frozen and Witless Bay Line is still lined with snow. I think our sea trout may be a little confused. Sea-run brown trout, or just sea trout, as most Newfoundlanders call them, have a life cycle that’s dependent on weather patterns and water temperature. Sea trout are very closely related to our Atlantic salmon, but there are key differences. Salmon are blessed with a gene that causes the production of an antifreeze protein that prevents their blood from freezing in sub-zero temperatures (this is essential to over-wintering in the ocean). Seawater freezes at a lower temperature than fresh and can remain in a liquid state down to –2 C. Without bloodstream antifreeze, any fish swimming in this water would not survive long. Sea trout do not have this gene and must be very cau-
PAUL SMITH
The Rock
Outdoors tious not to get caught in subzero water. So Newfoundland sea trout have adapted to life on a big rock in the cold North Atlantic. In springtime, when our bays and estuaries have warmed to safe temperatures, they migrate down from our rivers, lakes and ponds to feed on the oceans bounty. They are hungry after the long winter in relatively barren water and feed voraciously on sea lice and smaller fishes. Nature has enabled migratory fish to alter their physiology to cope with changing environments. Hormones are secreted and work their magic as trout acclimatize to their salty summer home. Very drab trout with brown backs, spotted sides and yellowish white bellies take on the overall silvery appearance typical of pelagic ocean going fish. With protein galore, their slender bodies become football shaped and quite powerful. Now in prime condition, the sea-run brown trout is one of the most sought after and prized game fish on the planet. But every species must reproduce, so during a late summer spate, or the heavy rains of fall, our sea trout leave the ocean and return to our island’s freshwater habitat to procreate and
Paul Smith hold a fine trout.
about four hours yesterday and managed just one trout — a big fella of about six pounds just starting his metamorphosis to ocean-going form. I released him and bid him a fine summer. Males, or Jacks as anglers call them, make dubious table fare even in peak condition, and I suffered much cold for this one fishy encounter. The wind howled in off the bay and up through the river valley, plummeting the already sub-zero air temperature down to God only knows what. I’ve been fly fishing since February and my hands were never any colder. A fly angler can bundle and insulate all other body parts but the hands are the weak link in cold weather. I just
avoid the cold ocean water. (An interesting note: I just finished reading a very comprehensive book on sea trout fishing in Scotland — where incidentally Newfoundland sea trout originally came from. It appears Scottish sea trout do sometimes over-winter in the ocean, albeit in a much warmer ocean environment. I suspect our original fish suffered significant causalities before dropping that particular British penchant.) Back to what’s going on this spring. It’s mid April and there’s very little sign of sea trout around Conception Bay; just the odd straggler. I fished
Solutions for crossword on page 28
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can’t fish with any degree of dexterity in gloves. The drill is: fish till my hands go numb, warm up, and fish again. Sometimes I question my sanity, but I keep doing it year after year. Sea trouters are by necessity a hardy lot. So for the most part, sea trouters are presently in a holding pattern. The ice is finally gone and there are rumours of a few trout being taken here and there. The next week will be critical. Late March and April is normally peak time for estuary fishing. Now it’s past mid-month and very few fish are showing up. The ice has been so slow melting this year. Have the fish gone out while ice still blocked our tidal ponds? Could they survive the cold? Maybe saltwater temperatures were up enough for them to venture forth unnoticed by anglers. Or perhaps the fish still think it’s winter and are staying put. Given the weather today and yesterday, this theory is certainly plausible. The weather and water will surely warm soon and entice them seaward. If you have even a fleeting interest in Newfoundland sea trout, check out Donald Hustins newly published book, Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout – A Journey into Newfoundland Waters. It’s quite a comprehensive work that’s both well researched and entertaining. With weather this nasty, a good read is the next best thing to fishing. Paul Smith is an outdoor enthusiast and freelance writer living in Spaniard’s Bay. flyfishtherock@hotmail.com Solutions for sudoku on page 28
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APRIL 20-26, 2007
What’s new in the automotive industry
FEATURED VEHICLE
BE ECO-FRIENDLY, BE SMART!
The SmartCar Fortwo coupe and convertible (convertible shown here) by Mercedes Benz is diesel-powered and the most fuel efficient passenger car sold in Canada (non-hybrid), with 61 miles/gallon in the city and 74 miles/gallon on the highway. This unique vehicle is extremely safe, despite its small size, as it utilizes a special high-strength steel passenger cage called a tridion safety cell, four standard air bags, and all Mercedes safety features including traction control and electronic stability control, making it a great car for both the winter and summer months. Environmentally friendly features include one of the lowest emission ratings of any car sold in Canada, an 85 per cent recyclable construction, and a length of 2.5 metres, needing much less space to park. Even Smart's production facility maintains the use of environmentally friendly practices, including the use of exclusive powder coating technology which uses 40 per cent less energy than conventional painting processes, and a state-of-the-art biological treatment unit that ensures no harmful waste escapes into the environment. And now the Smart Fortwo comes with a $2,000 federal government rebate for its eco-friendly efforts. The SmartCar Fortwo starts at $16,700 and is available at Tom Woodford Ltd. at 673 Topsail Rd. in St. John’s. Paul Daly photos/The Independent
‘I am a mechanical refugee’ I
used to do a lot of work on my cars, It’s like a half-arsed garage. My neighbut these days I only do it when I bour gave me some insight to the purhave to. Back in the good ol’ days I pose. If it was completely enclosed I’d had a place for that kind of action, a have it blocked with gear in about an hour, but open spaces such as garage with a beer fridge, carports tend to stay unclutstereo, and wood stove. If so tered. much as a windshield wiper He’s right. And who hangs would wiggle loose I’d insist out in a carport? Nobody, not on rolling it in the shop for a on this island that’s for sure. thorough examination. Just Over the years I’ve grown to about anything would take a appreciate the carport, espefull evening to fix. By the cially when the car gets time I got the car inside, some backed in with a trunk load of tunes on and the wood stove MARK groceries. In any kind of lit it’d be dark outside. Then WOOD weather, rain or snow, it’s I’d creep over to the offending wiper and improve on the WOODY’S only a metre from the door I’m in the kitchen with basic design, armed with a WHEELS and two strides. For some odd tiny budget and very few reason frost doesn’t form on materials. These days I’ve got a carport, a roof the car windows in the winter and the that juts off the house, exposed on two car stays cooler in the shade during sides. I could never understand the summer. It’s a fine roof, but it’s no architectural significance of a carport. place for whiling away the evening on
a wiper. Make no wonder I don’t work on cars as much as I used to — I’m a mechanical refugee. The brake job must go on, however, and even though I miss my garage I can still appreciate the finer points that first attracted me to the trade in the first place. It may look like a dirty, technical undertaking, and it is, but it also offers a certain level of satisfaction, a break from the daily grind of everyday life. Mechanical problem-solving is a direct analytical thought process there’s no grey area. Each component relies on the next to function properly. They’re attached by tension, and require an equal and opposite force to remove them, simple as that. Brakes pads are only $25 a set and the tedious part is taking the wheels off. It still only takes a 13-millimeter socket wrench and half an hour to get me back on the road again.
By definition, I’d barely fall under the classification of a backyard mechanic. I’m certainly in the backyard, crawling around under machinery but my skills are limited. I’ve got enough experience to recognize most symptoms and realize when I’m in over my head. When that happens, and it seldom does, I contract out for major surgery … someone with real skills and a garage. There’s a lot of talent out there and I tend to gravitate towards specialists. I’m an extremely territorial creature of habit. For example, there’s a guy who’s been doing my exhaust systems for about 10 years now. I’ll patch up a small rumble on my muffler, but that’s when I start saving for an appointment. Just like an old guy going to the same barber all his life, I cruise up and ask for the usual. On the rare occasion when my motor needs internal work I see another guy
who’s been handling my file for about 15 years. Same thing — I’ll have the usual. Being able to decide if a machine is worth fixing is a skill I’ve honed over the years; it requires good judgment. Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from poor judgment. Usually when a vehicle develops a structural deficiency and requires welding, it’s time to say good-bye. I trust the final word of my welder whose metallurgical skills are rivaled only by Japanese sword-makers. And if my car should fail completely and die in my arms, well, I’ve got a specialist who recycles all my cars too. It’s worth your while to have good connections. After all, I specialize too, but that’s another story.
Mark Wood of Portugal CoveSt. Philip’s knows all the right people.
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26 • INDEPENDENTSHIFT
APRIL 20, 2007
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All lease and finance offers are from Honda Canada Finance Inc., O.A.C. *Leases are based on new 2007: Fit DX 5- speed (model GD3727E) / Civic Sedan DX 5- speed (model FA1527EX)/ Civic Coupe DX 5-speed (model FG1127E)/ Accord Sedan Special Edition 5-speed (CM5577J)/ Pilot LX 2WD Auto (model YF2817EX)/ Element LX 2WD 5-speed (YH1737E)/ Odyssey LX Auto (model RL3827E)/ Ridgeline LX 4WD Auto (model YK1647E) for 48/48/48/48/48/48/48/48 month terms, OAC. Monthly payments are $198/ $218/ $218/ $328/ $468/ $298/ $388/ $448 with $2,431/ $1,865/ $1,986/ $2,825/ $3,675/ $4,776/ $5,532/ $4,945 down payment or equivalent trade-in. Payments include $1,275/ $1,275/ $1,275/ $1,360/ $1,505/ $1,505/ $1,505/ $1,505 freight and PDI. $0/ $0/ $0/ $0/ $0/ $0/ $0/ $0 security deposit required. First monthly payment due at lease inception. Lease rates are 4.9%/ 3.9%/ 3.9%/ 3.9%/ 3.9%/ 4.9%/ 4.9%/ 4.9%, respectively. 96,000 kilometre allowance; charge of $0.12/km for excess kilometres. Total lease obligation is $10,835/ $11,929/ $11,929/ $17,948/ $25,609/ $16,307/ $21,231/ $24,515. License, insurance, applicable taxes and registration are extra. Option to purchase at lease end for $6,292/ $7,811/ $7,903/ $12,190/ $15,652/ $10,836/ $14,985/ $15,308 plus taxes. †1: Accord Finance: 1.9% purchase financing for 36 months available on new 2007 Accords, O.A.C. Finance example based on a 36 month finance term, OAC: $20,000 at 1.9% per annum equals $571.98 per month for 36 months. Cost of borrowing is $591.24, for a total obligation of $20,591.24. †: 2.9% purchase financing for up to 36 months available on new 2007 Fits and Civics (excluding Civic Coupe Si and Hybrid), O.A.C. Finance example based on a 36 month finance term, OAC: $14,000 at 2.9% per annum .
www.honda.ca equals $406.52 per month for 36 months. Cost of borrowing is $634.73, for a total obligation of $14,634.73. †3: 2.9% purchase financing for 36 months available on new 2007: Element, Pilot, Ridgeline and Odyssey models, O.A.C. Finance example based on a 36 month finance term, OAC: $25,000 at 2.9% per annum equals $725.93 per month for 36 months. Cost of borrowing is $1,133.44, for a total obligation of $26,133.44. †4: Double 5-star safety rating based on crash tests by NHTSA on Accord DX Sedan for driver and front passenger in front-impact crash tests, www.safercar.gov. †5: 10Best Car Awards as reported by Car and Driver Magazine in January 2007 issue, www.caranddriver.com. †6: "Best New Car Under $18,000" awarded to Honda Fit by Automobile Journalist Association of Canada (AJAC), November 21, 2006. †7: Triple 5-star safety rating based on crash tests by NHTSA on 2007 Civic and Fit for driver and front passenger in front and side impact crash tests, www.safercar.gov. †8: Quadruple 5- star safety rating based on crash tests by NHTSA for 2007: Odyssey, CR-V, Pilot, Element and Ridgeline for driver, front passenger and rear seat passengers in both front-impact and side-impact crash tests, www.safercar.gov. ¥: Based on annual sales by category in Canada as reported by AIAMC, January 2007. ¥1: As reported by EnerGuide published by NRCan – see www.vehicles.gc.ca for full details. ¥2: Maximum value of bonus gas offers on 2007 Accord/Pilot are $1,500/ $1,500 including taxes and OAC. Gas offers apply only to new in-stock 2007 Accord and Pilot models purchased/leased between March 1 and April 30, 2007, OAC. ¥3: Based on the retail value of installed additional equipment and price difference of Accord Sedan SE (model CM5577J) versus Accord Sedan DX-G (model CM5517E) with accessories installed. Limited time offers. See your Honda dealer for full details.
APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTSHIFT • 27
A
Victims of joyriding car thieves often most vulnerable recent Toronto Life article noted that car theft is thought of as a victimless crime. Your car disappears; your insurance provides a new one. Magic. Sure. Magic if your Benz is swiped out of your garage, or your new Hummer ends up in a container headed east. These are the kinds of cars that produce the biggest individual claims. But what about the rest of us? What if, like Frank and LORRAINE Phyllis Johansen of Toronto, SOMMERFELD your ‘92 Plymouth Sundance is stolen? And what if, 17 days later, the replacement car you’ve managed to get, a ‘93 Dodge Shadow, likewise vanishes? Did these cars end up in chop shops? Were they repainted and resold to an unwitting Sundance or Shadow connoisseur? Of course not. I’d guess they were taken for a joyride, by someone who forgot their bus pass and needed to be somewhere across town while keeping a low profile. A top-end sports car would scream out for attention, while a Sundance — maybe even one like the Johansens had, with a handicap permit on the dash — would certainly fly under anyone’s radar, including the police. But here’s where this “victimless” crime gets a face. Or, actually, two faces: the Johansens, a disabled 79-year-old and her 75-year-old husband who now can’t get around. They learned a hard lesson the first time around about having theft coverage, but now face still more bills as they struggle to recover all over again. (Police report the Shadow was recovered a
POWER SHIFT
F
few days after the theft. Like a wayward spouse on a bender, the Johansens have no way of knowing what it’s been doing while it was gone.) A few years back, a co-worker of mine had her old Chrysler minivan stolen from her driveway. It was a bit of a heap, but reliable. She and her husband depended on it to get to work. After 29 days, the police came to her with the bad news. They’d found the van, and they were giving it back. Because it had technically only gone from bad to worse, she got back what was left and that was that. The fact that it had been found abandoned in the middle of some rutted field meant nothing. The fact the little bastards who stole it had been joyriding like it was an all-terrain vehicle meant even less. When we were in an accident with our ‘94 Intrepid, I literally begged the insurance company not to write it off. I know on paper it was only worth a couple of thousand dollars — but I could never replace what it was worth to us for that amount. That is why my heart goes out to people like the Johansens — for many of us, a car is a conveyance, a way to get from A to B. The only statement being made is, “I need to get to my doctor’s appointment.” While insurance companies are logically required to ascertain the value of a car based on age and mileage, it’s not until you actually lose a car, whether to theft or accident, that you finally realize how difficult it is to gauge its intrinsic worth as opposed to its dollar value. Chances are fairly good that if you’re driving around in something that’s been on the road since Brian Mulroney was in office, you’re not a highflying jet setter.
Don’t get me wrong. I would rather the police chased rapists and murderers than car thieves. But my blood boils at the ridiculous rates we all pay to insure ourselves against something we have no control over, only to find out that most of us could never adequately insure ourselves if we wanted to. Insurance companies keep tabs on which cars are most likely to be stolen (take a look at www.ibc.ca under “insurance crime”), so you might want to see what kinds of odds you’re playing with your vehicle. While articles like the one in Toronto Life high-
In the race to be green Reaction was swift: speed limits orty years ago, if you went into the pits at the Indianapolis Motor were reduced, daylight savings time Speedway, you would find three kicked in earlier (sound familiar?) and things missing: women, peanuts and the entire North American auto industry the colour green — all deemed to be downsized dramatically. Literally every make and model of car was smaller. bad luck. And auto racing got it in the ear. You still won’t find peanuts. But a Newspaper columnists, MPs woman named Marie and congressmen railed McLuskey of Women’s Wear against the sport for wasting Daily threatened to sue in precious resources. Jackie 1970 if they didn’t let her into Stewart tried to put them all the pits and garage area to straight by pointing out that cover the race just like a man. one jumbo jet flying oneSpeedway owner Tony way across the Atlantic used Hulman capitulated and the up more fuel in a day than floodgates were opened. the entire F1 circus used up Before you knew it, major NORRIS in a season. media were assigning women MCDONALD But the critics weren’t in to the racing beat and Janet the mood to listen. Guthrie became Indy’s (and In 1974, to ward off legisNASCAR’s) first lady driver. lation, the sport took action. This year, as many as four The 24 Hours of Daytona women may try to qualify for was cancelled, NASCAR reduced race the 500. And the colour green? It — the distances by 10 per cent and colour and the philosophy — is all over Indianapolis eliminated most practice the place. The Indy Racing League, sessions and cut qualifying runs for the which sanctions the 500, runs exclu- 500 from four days to two. The heat was off by 1975, and things sively on ethanol, the new fuel of choice for environmentalists and soon got back to normal, but the mesenlightened politicians just about sage was clear: auto racing might be everywhere as the push to “Go Green” entertainment but it is not exempt from the real world and the next time there’s reaches almost biblical proportions. As the world comes to grips with a problem the sport had better be prewhat many see as climate change and pared to get its head out of the sand. Which brings us to the present. global warming, not to forget the As was the case in the early ’70s diminishing supply of traditional fossilfuel sources as well as political instabil- (when there was widespread cynicism ity in the Middle East and Venezuela, the oil and auto industries had manipuit’s time to review what motor sport is lated a minor inconvenience into a cridoing to not only keep pace with socie- sis of unimaginable proportions that, in tal change but perhaps to lead some of the end, resulted in massive profits for — you’ve got it — Big Oil and, to a it. First, some background. The Arab oil embargo of 1973 hit lesser degree, Detroit), there is a belief capitalist economies right between the in the racing community today that the eyes. The price at gasoline pumps in current environmental crisis is more North America skyrocketed and there political than real. Be that as it may, action in the face of were periodic lineups as supplies dried political correctness gone wild must up.
TRACK TALK
either be taken — or seen to be taken — or the backlash against racing could prove problematic. For instance, this is what FIA president Max Mosley told Autosport magazine last summer: “Where motor racing could be vulnerable is if there’s an oil crisis of some sort … because politicians like something symbolic, something like F1, to show they’re serious about economizing on fuel. “They could try to stop F1 for six months, for example, but if we are working absolutely on the cutting edge of fuel efficiency and economy, it gives the friends that we have among politicians a very strong argument to protect racing.” So what is racing really doing today to curry that favour? The IRL is on the cutting edge. It was the first sanctioning body to mandate the use of ethanol (which can be made primarily from corn or sugar cane, making it the ultimate renewableresource fuel) to power its racing cars. The league and its founder, Tony George, have been honoured for their leadership in this area. The ill-fated driver, Paul Dana, brought ethanol to the attention of the IRL during the 2005 season. He also convinced the fuel’s producers to sponsor him for 2006. Dana was killed at the first race last year but the message had been received and ethanol became the league’s one and only fuel this season. The American LeMans Series has mandated the use of ethanol-enhanced fuel and is also encouraging its entrants to use all-ethanol or biodiesel fuels in their cars. In fact, during telecasts of ALMS events, standings graphics include fuel-use information (diesel, biodiesel, ethanol, gasoline). Champ Car (and most open-wheel oval and drag racing cars in North America) run on methanol, which is made from wood.
light the glamour grabs of high-end vehicles that fetch big bucks in other parts of the world, the hard truth is that most vehicles are stolen for rides and parts right here at home. The current hot list published by the Insurance Bureau of Canada is weighted heavily toward the expected Hondas and Acuras – but what is somewhat surprising is the years of the cars: mainly 1998s, 1999s and 2000s. And what is maybe the most surprising of all? Nestled in at number seven, a 1993 Dodge Shadow convertible.
28 • INDEPENDENTFUN
APRIL 20, 2007
WEEKLY DIVERSIONS ACROSS 1 ___-by-Chance, Nfld. 5 Galileo’s birthplace 9 Rodent 13 Tsp’s larger cousin 17 Captain’s cry 18 Indigo plant 19 Free of infelicities 20 ___ is where the heart is. 21 Hearth 23 Gloomy 25 Vast time frame 26 Sow sound 27 Scanned 28 Game of numbers 29 Trig function 30 Throw rocks toward the hog line 31 Pat gently 32 Season for iceberg sightings off Nfld. 35 Chinese energy 36 ___ Peter to pay Paul 37 Milk container 40 On the ball 41 Man. town named after Flintabattey Flonatin (of sci-fi) 44 Swing music 45 Skate string 46 Past participle of lie 47 Beam of light 48 Elephant statue in St. Thomas, Ont. 49 Explosive 50 Fire: prefix 51 PC cousin
CHUCKLE BROS
52 Inoculation 53 B.C. whale watching port 55 Summer time in Banff 56 Nova Scotian who founded a shipping line 59 Traveller’s stopover 60 “O Canada! Terre de ___ aïeux” 61 Lorie of the links 62 Bird once native to Funk Island: Great ___ 64 First woman GG 67 Tenor Vickers 68 Shakespearean heavy 69 Stratford’s river 70 Stare lasciviously 71 It left a ___ in my mouth (2 wds.) 73 Wind: prefix 74 Small in Scotland 75 “The ___ Boy” (Petrie film) 76 Wheat (Fr.) 77 Before this time (arch.) 78 Treat flax 79 Masculine 81 Corner of a sail 82 Country with many official languages 85 Conceal 86 Gaspé mountains: les ___-Chocs 87 Provincial pol. 90 Future fiancé, maybe 92 Of a Eurasian region
94 Slanting type: abbr. 95 Sick sea of Asia 96 Not pro 97 Related 98 Fake shot 99 As plain as the ___ ... 100 Track tournament 101 Surrender possession of DOWN 1 Coffee shop 2 State on L. Erie 3 Dawn, poetically 4 Hurricane hub 5 Fence of pickets 6 Silly 7 Twisted 8 Brew 9 A Mansbridge 10 Perfect 11 Sort 12 Got into a stew? 13 Pulsate 14 Cowboy footwear 15 Obscenity 16 Mexican money 22 Nfld. site with oldest fossil evidence of early multicelled life: Mistaken ___ 24 Reveal indiscreetly 27 Wreck 29 Stable parent 30 Goatee site 31 Ferguson of “Air Farce” 32 Road crew supply
Brian and Ron Boychuk
33 Nfld.’s official flower: pitcher ___ 34 Verso’s opposite 35 History muse 36 Dupuis of “Maurice Richard” 37 “FBFW” grandpa 38 Ultraviolet rad. 39 Earth: prefix 41 Yukon town near Pelly R. 42 Campus club, briefly 43 Quebec lake 44 Ukrainian mayor of Winnipeg, 1957-77 46 “FBFW” creator Johnston 48 Vocalist Siberry (“Small Fires”) 50 N.W.T.’s official tree: jack ___ 51 Rx writers 52 Code name for beach where Canadians landed on D-Day 54 High ___ 55 Quebec mountain 56 Budgie container 57 Big black bird 58 Italian cathedral 60 Show drowsiness 61 A McGarrigle sister 63 Be acquainted with 64 Seed 65 ___ of consent 66 Diminutive suffix 67 B.C.’s official bird: Steller’s ___
68 Capri 69 Once more 71 Flying mammal 72 Up to the task 73 Palm native to Asia 75 Polar ___
77 Draw out 78 Long gun 79 N.S. basin with world’s highest tides 80 Confuse 81 Laundry ___
82 Footnote abbr. 83 Short letter 84 Borneo native 85 The good guy, usually 86 Walking stick 87 P.M. Pearson, to pals
88 Set down 89 A Brontë sister 91 Mr. Hanomansing 92 Part of rotating shaft 93 French bag Solution page 30
WEEKLY STARS ARIES (MAR. 21 TO APR.19) You still might have to deal with some lingering confusion that marked a recent workplace situation. But for the most part, you should now be well on your way to your next project.
TAURUS (APRIL 20 TO MAY 20) A new commitment might demand more time than you’d expected to have to give it. But rely on that special Bovine gift for patience, and stick with it. You’ll be glad you did. GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20) You’re earning the admiration of a lot of people who like the way you handle yourself when your views are on the line. Even one or two of your detractors are being won over. CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22) Taking your responsibilities seri-
ously is what you do. But ease up on the pressure gauge and make time for much needed R & R. Start by making this weekend a “just for fun” time zone.
LEO (JULY 23 TO AUG. 22) Some recently uncovered information might make a change of plans inevitable. If so, deal with it as quickly as possible, and then find out what went wrong and why. What you learn might surprise you. VIRGO (AUG. 23 TO SEPT. 22) Aspects favour moving carefully and deliberately when making any significant changes. Could be there are more facts you need to know, which you might overlook if you rush things.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23 TO OCT. 22) A problem neighbour might be looking to goad you into an action
you don’t want to take. Ask someone you both respect if he or she would act as an impartial arbitrator for both of you.
SCORPIO (OCT. 23 TO NOV. 21) A recent workplace accomplishment hasn’t been overlooked by those who watch these things. Meanwhile, start making travel plans for that much-too-longdeferred trip with someone special. SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22 TO DEC. 21) Those money matters continue to move in your favour. Now would be a good time to start putting some money back into the house, both for esthetic as well as economic reasons. CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 TO JAN. 19) A changing workplace environment can create job pressures. But, once again, follow the example of your
birth sign and take things a step at a time, like the sure-footed Goat you are.
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 TO FEB. 18) Cheer up. You could soon have the funds you need for your worthy project. Your generous gifts of time and effort are well known, and someone might decide it’s time to join with you.
PISCES (FEB. 19 TO MAR. 20) Your inner scam-catcher is right on target, and you’re absolutely right to reject that “too-good-to-be-true” offer. Meanwhile, something positive should be making its way to you.
YOU BORN THIS WEEK: You are generous and also sympathetic to people who find they need the help of other people. (c) 2007 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Fill in the grid so that each row of nine squares, each column of nine and each section of nine (three squares by three) contains the numbers 1 through 9 in any order. There is only one solution to each puzzle. Solutions, tips and computer program available at www.sudoko.com
SOLUTION ON PAGE 30
INDEPENDENTSTYLE
FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, APRIL 20-26, 2007 — PAGE 21
A
Rainorshine
By John Rieti The Independent
Outfitters offer performance fabrics with a touch of fashion
s the temperature creeps above the freezing point and the snow recedes from the Newfoundland and Labrador coast, hikers eagerly take to the trails. “The harshness of the seasons are just as good as when they’re in full bloom,” says avid hiker Ed Delaney. But enjoying the spring scenery by foot presents challenges, like staying dry, and coping with everchanging weather. Delaney recommends shedding heavy winter clothes, while continuing to dress warmly — and be prepared to get wet. When they’re not out geo-caching or rock climbing, Meagan Kay, manager of the Outfitters Adventure Gear and Apparel store on Water Street in St. John’s, says her staff will help you find just what you need to enjoy the outdoors — from jackets to sea kayaks. Kay says soft shell jackets are perfect for the drizzly, but pretty months. Made of a stretchy, water-repellent and wind blocking material, these jackets have all the toughness you need in a less bulky form. The soft shells are stylishly fitted, and companies like Cloudveil have muted their high-performance fabrics by offering them in everyday colours like canvas brown. “It works for people who just want to pop out for a quick hike and then go for coffee,” says Kay. The lighter soft shells also function as good running jackets, and several are made with reflective materials. Even hardcore rain jackets, once the realm of ponchos and yellow plastic, have now turned trendy. GoLite, a company Outfitters just started carrying, offers completely waterproof garments that are also breathable, stretchy and nicely cut. To add warmth, Kay recommends wearing a thin layer of fleece on the inside, or a layer of wool. Another line new to Outfitters is Icebreaker, a clothing company specializing in merino wool. This natural fibre is light, warm and airy, it doesn’t itch, and best of all it doesn’t trap odour like synthetic material. The clothes come in many different styles, but prepare to pay for the privilege of wearing them; a basic T-shirt sells for close to $80. “It doesn’t look like it’s outdoors gear, but it functions that way,” says Kay. Delaney and the East Coast Trail Association officially opened the hiking season last weekend. Delaney says hikers will want wind and water blocking pants. “It’s kind of mushy, but it’s kind of fun that way too, because then you get wet, you get muddy,” Kay says, about the trail that stretches along 540 kilometres of the Avalon Peninsula. Outfitters features several different brands of rain pants, made from more traditional, coarser and waterproof materials than the jackets. Kay recommends shoppers check the exterior fabric of the pants for a tight, square pattern. This rip-stop construction makes them more durable, and if you accidentally punch a hole in the material, it won’t spread. Most of the pants are breathable, and are now designed with extra seams around the knees that allow the fabric to move effortlessly with your legs. Other additional pieces that can help in the spring include thin Helly Hansen toques, and a pair of sweatwicking wool socks to put on under boots. “The coastline should make your hike — not your fashion,” notes Delaney. But as Kay says, combining a few good pieces of clothing will definitely make it a lot more comfortable. john.rieti@theindependent.ca
GoLite Gamut Jacket, $169; North Face Venture Pants, $99; Icebreaker T-Shirt, $80. John Rieti pose, priceless. Photo by Paul Daly/The Independent.
Spring purge
Don’t be afraid to toss out the old and bring in the new
S
pring is officially here … well, the weather doesn’t seem to be co-operating yet. Maybe because we’re sick of the remaining two-foot drifts of snow still piled on our lawns we forget that everywhere else — excluding Newfoundland — is getting spring. Spring is the time when we cast off the winter blues and start focusing on the warmer weather to come. We talk about plans for the garden, planting
NICHOLAS GARDNER
Off the Eating Path
bulbs and preparing for the growing season. Adventurous types start applying a new coat of paint to brighten up the home. Others pack up everything and head for warmer weather. You can
spot them a mile away. They’re the ones with a healthy colour to their cheeks, while the rest of us remain ashen from lack of exposure to the sun. For me, the first preparation for spring, and eventually summer, is the cleaning of the kitchen cupboards — the great purge of the winter months. The winter tools are put away, like the slow cooker, and replaced by the barbecue, which was buried under snow for the entire winter.
As well, the most important part of spring cleaning comes into place: the reading of the best-before labels on the backs of all the packaged stuff. My first stop is the reorganization of the spice cupboard. There’s no time like the present to get rid of old tasteless stuff. For spices, if you have very little left and you can’t remember the last time you bought something like chili powder, chances are it’s old and tired, and it’s time to say good-bye.
Look at spices as a time-sensitive type of food product. They do not have the infinite shelf life we once thought. Even when dried, there is still a degrading of the flavour and the potency of the aromatics. I tend to buy only a small amount of spices at any one time, this way if I don’t use it up in two to three months I can dispose of it and get some more to See “Shake off,” page 24
APRIL 20, 2007
22 • INDEPENDENTSPECIAL SECTION
SPRING
GUTTING OUT
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Spring means cleaning the garage, tidying the yard, inspecting the property and yard sales
W
ilbert Hopkins, a major with the Salvation Army in Carbonear, says one way to celebrate spring is to help yourself by helping others. “Like the saying goes, one man’s trash is another’s treasure,” says Hopkins, who runs the Salvation Army Thrift Store in the Conception Bay North town. He adds that springtime de-cluttering keeps thrift stores like his going. As the weather improves, Hopkins says Newfoundlanders and Labradorians begin switching from winter to summer clothing and donated items become good buys for someone else. It isn’t only clothing that gets the once-over as the seasons change — garages and basements also need a “good gutting,” according to Terry Snow of the St. John’s-based Buy & Sell mag-
azine. Snow says this is the time of year when they see an increase in classifieds. “At the end of winter we see a decline in ads for snowmobiles and snowplows and an increase in ones for motorcycles, campers and RVs.” It’s out with the hockey gear, and in with the baseball stuff, he says. Snow explains this is the time of year people start paying attention to what’s in garages and sheds. Yard sales are a popular method of getting rid of the old while earning money for the new. “We can have up to 50 yard and moving sales advertised any given week when the weather improves,” he says, adding that someone is always looking for used items. Lloyd Piercey of Western Building Products Ltd. in Corner Brook says as
you make your rounds around the yard, keep an eye on the state of your home after the long, hard winter. The first nice day should remind you to check your roof for loose shingles, to inspect caulking around doors and windows, and to check on rain gutters and downspouts. “If you catch repairs early you can save big money,” he says, advising that repair costs can become an “out-of-control monster” if you don’t catch problems early. For bigger jobs, financial experts like Cathy Hollet of the Community Credit Union in Marystown are there to help. “Sometimes you need to do larger, more costly repairs or you might have plans to do some upgrading to your home and paying out of pocket might not be a possibility for many,” she says. Hollet says there are options to suit
any need. “Of course, we always encourage everyone to pay themselves first and have a little put away from each paycheque in case a need arises.” She says home equity loans, personal lines of credit and personal loans are all options to consider, depending on your circumstances. Hollet says spring is generally the time of year she get questions regarding the best way to finance home repairs and upgrades. “People are putting in new doors and windows, repairing roofs, replacing siding and adding decks and it all costs money,” she says. “Certain renovations can increase your home’s value — building an addition, or changing the windows can help with that — so you build up equity while having work done on the home and that is money well spent.”
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APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTSPECIAL SECTION • 23
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24 • INDEPENDENTSTYLE
Shake off the shackles of winter and eat fresh foods From page 21
replace it. There are some things to do to refresh spices if they are a bit stale, however. Place a non-stick pan on the heat and get it hot. Add the spices to be used into the pan to invigorate them, then, when their aromatic fragrances reappear, add them to the dish. While I start in the spice cupboard I always take time to remove anything else I haven’t used in the last little
EVENTS
APRIL 20 • Bay Pride Week, Beyond the Overpass Theatre Company presents five comedic performances, LSPU Hall, Victoria Street, St. John’s, 8 p.m., 753-4531. Continues until April 22. • Restorative Justice Breakfast, guest speaker director of Victims’ Voice, Wilma Derkson, The Battery, 8:30-10 a.m., 722-5040. • Signal Hill Locals Day, free admission to exhibit and film. • Donate your spare pennies to Beagle Paws, 22nd Annual Pennies for Paws, Forbes Street, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., 7397297, info@beaglepaws.com. • Today’s Girl, fun program for girls ages 8 to 10, presented by Early Achievers Education Centre, 397 Stavanger Drive, St. John’s, 579-7323. • Annual Book Sale, presented by the Canadian Federation of University Women, 7:30-9:30 p.m., and April 21, 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
APRIL 21 • Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra’s final SINFONIA concert, Cook Recital Hall, St. John’s, 8 p.m., 722-4441. • Odd Sock Entertainment Open Auditions for an upcoming tour of Newfoundland and Labrador schools, Basement Theatre, St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., oddsock-entertainment@nl.rogers.com. • Home Repair Workshop Part 2, hands-on learning for women with Sarah Wiseman, free but must register, St. John’s Women’s Centre, 1 p.m. • Bowl for Kids Sake, Holiday Lanes, Elizabeth Avenue, St. John’s, Saturday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. –
while as well — it recharges my culinary creativity. Recently I’ve tossed many things out — rice vermicelli, which I used last summer for a cold salad for a picnic, chili flakes I bought for a Tagine recipe, which was bland and unsatisfying and consequently I didn’t use again, a box of couscous (small pasta beads) I was gifted to use but didn’t, and the list goes on. One of the best things about spring cleaning is the joy of filling your sup-
midnight, 368-KIDS. • The Big Comfy Couch: Molly’s Fool Moon Festival, April 21, Holy Heart Theatre, St. John’s, 1 p.m., and April 22, Gander Arts and Culture Centre, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. • MUN Dump and Run Yard Sale, MUN West Hatcher House, April 2122, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
plies back up again — but remember this is springtime, so lighten up your choices. Look for fresh ingredients instead of ingredients to fill the pantry. Fresh herbs are abundant in the shops now. I have even spotted fresh bay leaves, which I’ve not seen here before. As well, green sprigs of thyme and rosemary are fresh and not woody. But cupboard cleaning is more than the spice rack — think outside of that. Look at the collection of canned goods
in your pantry. If something has been there since the great Christmas stockpile, then maybe it’s time to let it go. Although canned goods are great for months on end, shake off the shackles of winter and eat fresh foods instead (the local food banks could greatly use the canned donations). Right now the foods are in transition, as we all are. Soon tomatoes will taste like tomatoes, greens will look like they came from your back yard — not trucked in from California — and local
farmer’s markets are starting to come back. Only this past weekend I spotted two in the parking lot of Churchill Square, a sign early crops are on their way. Take time this spring to clean up and focus on the good food of the summer to come. Nicholas Gardner is a freelance writer and erstwhile chef living in St. John’s. nicholasgardner@gmail.com
FESTIVAL OF ENSEMBLES
APRIL 22 • Spring classes commence at MUN Division of Lifelong Learning, learn to speak a second language, or take a painting, drawing, or photography course, 737-7979, www.mun.ca/lifelonglearning. • Bluegrass and Oldtime Country Music Jam Session and Open Mike, Lions Club, Bay Roberts, 2-5 p.m. • Celebrate Earth Day at The Rooms, presentations include An Inconvenient Truth, 12-1:30 p.m., The We Tree: We Are the Environment, 1-5 p.m., How You Can Save the World, 1-5 p.m., and Global Warming - It’s Here! It’s Now! 2-3:30 p.m. • Earth Day Party, The Ship, St. John’s, 6-10:30 p.m. • The Art Association of Newfoundland Spring Exhibition and Sale, Capital Hotel, Kenmount Road, St. John’s, 12-7 p.m. APRIL 23 • RCA Theatre Company presents The Backdoor Caberet, LSPU Hall Gallery, Victoria Street, St. John’s, 7 p.m. • Ryan’s Fancy Remembered, Part 2 of 6-part series, CBC TV, 8 p.m., 7:30 p.m. in most parts of Labrador, Monday nights through to May 21.
Students at Memorial University’s School of Music rehearse for a local concert to launch the chamber orchestra’s upcoming visit to Russia, May 4-14. The orchestra has been invited to perform in St. Petersburg as part of the prestigious International Festival of Ensembles — the first musical group to represent Canada at the event. The launch concert will be held at the D. F. Cook Recital Hall on Friday, April 27, at 8 p.m. Shown are Vernon Regehr (conductor), Laura Soucy, Sam Collins, Kate Bevan-Baker (violins), Laura Ivany, Rebecca Powell (cellos), Courtney Paul Daly/The Independent Gallant (flute), Melissa Williams (clarinet).
Herring loss
Fishery thrives in different way in Fortune Bay
H
ow the fishery has changed, and even more curious, the people in it. The fishers around here are getting geared up for lobster pots that go out on Saturday, passing my sea-side home on new quads and in spiffy trucks, lights bright and CD systems blaring a re-mixed version of some Newfoundland song. Gone are the quiet mornings when my grandfather and his generation wandered down the harbour on rubbered-feet, cushioned by home-knitted woolen socks. The crunch on the gravel roads of the early-risen, hard-working men has long been replaced by big wheels on now-worn pavement. You would have to be blind and deaf to miss the fishing activity here this week — the monitoring and buying of herring has kept this place hoppin’. There hasn’t been much of a herring fishery here. In my time, herring was “bait” for pots and traps and fine for a scattered meal or two when stuck. My father’s memories are quite different. Fifty years ago when he was a boy there were three herring factories here. Men from near and far earned their living filleting, skinning and packing the herring into 200-pound barrels. My father recalls walking the length of the harbour on the tops of these bursting barrels. If they were caught they were none-too-gently “fired out of it.” The boys were never driven far, as these factories always needed an extra set of hands. The young fellas were hired on to peel the skin off the picked fillets. The boys would go down before school, return when school let out and spent all day Saturdays there. Too short to reach the tables, they stood tall on tubs and buckets, salt burning their young hands for 25 cents an hour. Purse seines spoiled the herring fishery in Fortune Bay. These catch-all nets all but cleaned out the waters when my father was around 17 — and the locals gave up on the herring fishery. It just wasn’t worth going at, my father recounts, and he left the fishery for other endeavours. That changed the year I was born. My father — once he was married with two small daughters — returned to his roots and the fishery. He made $3.50 for each tub of herring and if there was enough he could make $100 a week. But that was short lived. Joey welcomed boats from B.C. into Fortune Bay in 1969. “You could look out the harbour and see the lights,” my father would say, pointing to where they once could be seen from the wharf. The lights would shine down through the depths, the herring would swim up and the seines would cut through the lot of them, he recounts. My father — and fishermen like him — had no problem with the herring these boats caught; it was the ones they left that bothered them. When the boat would be full they would dump
PAM PARDY GHENT
Seven-day talk
the seine and what they couldn’t take would be left there dead. “You could take a 10-foot paddle and put it through the dead, wasted herring down in Bay D’East. It was something else,” my father remembers. The only herring the local fishermen were getting were what would randomly swim into their nets. If they got a bucketful to bait their pots they were lucky, my father says, but things changed when the boats were not only “raping” the waters, but also damaging equipment. In their quest for herring they tore up gear or took it altogether. The Fortune Bay fishermen were pissed. Ren Pardy, Eric Banfield and my father got the attention of Don Jamieson — their fella in Ottawa. Between the “jigs and the reels of it all,” a meeting between the big boat owners and the inshore fishermen was held in St. John’s, and the Fortune Bay fishermen, my father included, walked out with money in their near-empty pockets. They had coin to replace their lost gear and $35 a day for any time they lost out fishing because of the damaged nets. Better than the money, my father says, was a promise made: “They drew an imaginary line in the bay and no boats were allowed to come in past Big Head, so the bottom of Fortune Bay was kept free of the big boats,” he explains. These boats have since returned to the waters off Long Harbour and local fishermen are not impressed with the impact this has had on herring stocks, but it has kept our wharf alive with herring pumps, filled our flakes with blue tubs and fork lifts, and has kept our usually quiet road lined with waiting transport trucks. Thirty-nine tubs with 1,800 pounds of herring each lined our government wharf the other night, and it all had to be unloaded, monitored, packed and trucked away. The work starts early and goes late. Meals are missed, but spirits are high. A new generation of youngsters climb where they shouldn’t and forever stink of dead fish. I wandered down to the wharf to have a look myself the other evening after supper and was amazed at how busy our waterfront had become, thanks to the fish I never knew much about. The hands that steer the fancy trucks and drive the newest quads are just as worn as my grandfathers were, and their faces just as wind burnt. They get up as early and deal with things they can’t control — weather, quotas, and prices — with the same dogged determination. Yes, the fishery has changed over the years, but maybe those in it haven’t changed as much as I had thought.
APRIL 20, 2007
INDEPENDENTSPORTS • 31
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FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2007 — PAGE 32
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